


Turn of The Page

by heartsdesire456



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Stiles, Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s03e16 Illuminated, Explicit Sexual Content, Guilt, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, POV Peter Hale, Protective Peter, Regret, Slight OOC, Some Humor, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-22
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-13 09:28:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 35,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1221190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Chris Argent is targeted by a mysterious attacker, the pack decides that the best place for him to be is as far from the 'usual suspects'. The only obvious answer is to hide him with Peter. However, what Chris discovers about Peter and the life of guilt he's living is more than anyone could've ever expected.</p><p>  <i>The problem with villains, Christopher, is that identifying one relies entirely on who you ask.</i></p><p>Starting with (and compliant to) the end of Episode 3.16-"Illuminated", but fully canon-divergent after and with an entirely different storyline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn of The Page

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a little out there. I'm sure a lot of people wont really like it that much because of the way certain characters are expressed, but basically this is more like an expression of how things COULD be, not how things 'are'. It's not meant to be in character. It's meant to explore the possibilities beyond what we're given in the show. The whole point of this fic is "Peter Hale is an actual human with human feelings" which, you know, is kinda not the most accurate description of everybody's favorite Uncle Creeper, is it?
> 
> But if you love Peter Hale and want to see him as a more 'human' person, this is totally the fic for you!
> 
> NOTE: All similarities in the show past Episode 3.16- "Illuminted" are entirely coincidental. This was researched extensively before the next episode after Illuminated aired and I chose my very own set of mythological possibilities to play with. There ARE similarities, but I'm guessing mythology does that a lot of the time, honestly.

Peter gasped in pain as his back slammed into the concrete pillar beside the very car he’d been viciously snatched away from. He gritted his teeth, eyes flickering blue as he stared over the barrel of the gun shoved in his face. “Argent,” he gritted out and the man behind the gun didn’t even waver. 

“You’re going to tell me what you did and _now_ ,” Chris said in a forced calm voice, blue eyes harsh.

Peter grimaced. “What am I being accused of this time-“ Peter’s head snapped to the side as Chris punched him in the face. He looked back with rage in his eyes as he raised a thumb to wipe at the blood on his lip. “Argent, I swear-“

“Something or someone brought the Warriors back and a certain someone has performed self-resurrection before,” Chris suggested and Peter narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know what ‘Warriors’ are and I sure as hell didn’t do it-“

“Don’t you even start, Hale-“

“I’M JUST TRYING TO LIVE A LIFE HERE!” Peter roared, and Chris’s eyes widened. Peter gripped at his hair and tugged, leaning back on the pillar. “All I want to do is- is go home, have dinner, and go to bed. I want to pet my cat-“

“You have a _cat_?”

“And do my laundry, and go to work at my new job, and try to just- just _be_ ,” Peter gasped out, looking up with a haunted, haggard look etched into every premature line on his face. “Chris, do you know how old I am?” he asked with a bitter laugh, leaning back against the column. Chris shook his head and Peter sniffed. “I’m _thirty years old_ ,” Peter stressed and Argent actually lowered his gun, he was so taken aback. “Yes! I look your age, don’t I? And you know _why_?” he pressed. “Because I’ve- I’ve lost my mind. I’ve been catatonic, I’ve been psychotic, I’ve been _dead_. In less than a decade, I’ve killed and been killed. I came back not because I was working magic from beyond the grave, but because _something_ made that girl hallucinate a resurrection instruction.” He let his head hang. “I don’t know what the hell a ‘warrior’ is, Argent. I don’t. I don’t care, okay-“

“You really think I’m going to fall for that?” Chris Argent asked, raising his gun. “You’re not going to sweet talk your way out of it this time. You said it yourself. You’re insane. Why should anybody trust you?”

Peter looked up with heavy eyes. “Please. I don’t know what you want but I just want to go home. I’m so over this. I’m so over being dragged into things I never wanted a part of.”

Chris sneered. “You dragged yourself into my crosshairs when you killed my sister-“

Peter growled in frustration. “Yes, because your fucking sister was so innocent. Unless you forgot, she _killed my whole family_ ,” he snapped. “Including _my_ sister,” he forced out through a clenched jaw. “She killed _my_ big sister. And what she did to me made me kill my own niece. I wasn’t in my own mind so I killed one of the two known relatives I had. _She_ did that to me. And I just had to bury my other niece,” he breathed and Argent frowned. “Oh yeah,” Peter said, tossing his head with a small, grim smile. “Maybe don’t go bothering my nephew, his baby sister is dead and he had to have a chat with his dead mother in the beyond just to find out that she was dead, not missing.”

“Why should I trust you?” Chris asked flatly.

Peter looked up, eyes hollow and empty. “I don’t honestly care if you believe me at all. I just want to go home,” he whispered in a brittle tone. “I just- I just want to go home.”

Argent raised his gun. “You’re hiding something, I know you are,” he said and Peter stepped away from the pillar, grabbing Argent’s gun hand before pulling the gun to his chest, pressing the barrel to his heart.

“Do it,” Peter hissed through gritted teeth, eyes filling with tears. “If you’re so intent on it, just do it. End it. End it _all_ ,” he choked out, voice warping as he fought to keep composure. “Just- just make it all _stop_.” He closed his eyes, pulling the gun and the hand of the hunter attached to it up, pressing the barrel between his eyes. “If you will feel better, Chris, just pull the trigger. I don’t care anymore,” he breathed, taking a few even breaths as he let his muscles relax, almost as if welcoming death. “Everything can stop if you just do it. I can’t do it myself, I promised her I wouldn’t, but if you do it I’ll be _free_ ,” he whispered longingly. “It was cold, and it was empty, and it was dark… but it all over. I’d welcome it.”

“Not today.” Peter didn’t open his eyes but the barrel leaving his forehead and the tell-tale soft swish of clothing told him all he needed to know as Argent stalked away into the night so silently that when Peter opened his eyes, he saw nothing in any direction. 

~

Peter swirled the wine in his glass, staring out the window of his living room thoughtfully. A small, lean, black figure hopped into his lap and he reached down absently to pet his cat. “Loki, my dear, what should I do?” he asked her, stroked a hand over her little head. She purred and nuzzled against his hand, and then stepped up, resting her paws on his chest as she nuzzled against his chin. Peter smiled softly, kissing her head. “Somehow I doubt cuddling with a hunter who is on the end of his rope is a good idea,” he whispered.

Peter looked out the window and, even as he spoke, he could feel something just _off_. Something felt wrong. He lowered Loki to the couch beside him and walked over to the glass. He looked down on the streets with a soft hum. It was far too late for children to be out trick or treating, so he wasn’t surprised to see only a few mischievous teenagers still out. He looked out across the valley and couldn’t really see anything of interesting. One of the reasons he chose his apartment was the hill his building was on combined with a fourth floor apartment meant he had quite the view of Beacon Hills. It was beautiful when he could bother to care. If he tried, he could see Derek’s loft all the way towards the darker, less lived in side of town. He liked knowing that, even if it was far too far away to see the individual apartment, the building itself was within his line of werewolf-enhanced sight. He looked that way now and something just felt _wrong_. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it did. He glanced the other direction, only a few blocks over, at the building he knew the Argents lived in. Had he a pair of binoculars and a lack of fearing he’d accidentally see a teenage girl changing, he could probably find out which apartment was theirs. 

Something just wasn’t right. He looked out over the city and sighed, shaking his head. “Warriors,” he muttered to himself as he turned and headed back to the couch. He put his glass of wine on the side table and picked up the cat in exchange. She flicked her half-tail in annoyance – he had no idea what happened to her tail as she’d had a little stubby tail when he found her a few months ago – but otherwise settled into his arms as he took her to his bedroom to get his laptop out. “What do you mean by Warriors, Christopher,” he mumbled, absently scratching Loki’s head as he waited for the laptop to fire up so he could start a search.

~

When Peter found out what Argent meant by Warriors, he wasted no time pushing his laptop and Loki aside. He dove for his phone as he rushed for his keys, jacket, and shoes. “Come on, Derek, answer!” he hissed, but Derek didn’t answer. “Fuck!” he cursed, wishing he had some of the other kids numbers at least. He rushed to his car, fighting the urge to just run instead. If he needed to pick up an injured Derek, he’d need a car to get him to safety. 

His first stop, however, was to find Chris Argent. Death threats or not just a few hours before, Chris Argent was the one who knew what the hell was going on and that was going to be crucial right now.

~

Peter knocked on the apartment door that had been marked ‘Argent’ on the mailbox, only to freeze as the door swung inwards under his fist. He glanced down as the door swung wide only to pale when he saw Chris Argent face down on the floor. “Ah crap,” he breathed, rushing into the hall, flicking the light on. “Argent?! Chris? Christopher?” He knelt and shook the man slightly, rolling him over only to hiss and snatch his hands away as he felt how _cold_ he was. “Damn it!” He grabbed Argent under the arms and lifted him up. He shifted him and felt for a pulse. It was there, and he was making soft groans so he wasn’t _dead_. But Peter figured he could end up that way in a hurry.

He wasted no time scooping him up. “I won’t tell anybody about this if you don’t,” Peter grunted as he tossed Argent over his shoulder. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to get around the doorman, but it was possible. A part of Peter wondered what the hell he was doing. He could let Argent die. Argent would do the same for him.

But the truth of the matter was that Chris knew things. He knew stuff Peter needed to know. If Chris Argent died, Peter might as well write off Beacon Hills with him. And like it or not, that was reason enough to carry an _Argent_ to the car and then drive him to the hospital. 

_If Gerard Argent could see his son now,_ Peter thought with a bitter chuckle as he snuck out of the building with an unconscious hunter tossed over his shoulder.

~

Peter got through the door with Argent in his arms, he spotted Melissa McCall at the front desk. “Mrs. McCall, if you could be a dear,” he called out and she looked up, startled by his voice, only to gasp when she saw who he was carrying.

“Chris!” she cried, rushing over, turning back to call for a stretcher. “Oh my God, what did you do to him?!” she hissed and Peter gave her a flat look.

“Yes, because I absolutely attacked a hunter and then brought him to the hospital instead of make my escape,” he said, only to be interrupted by the arrival of the stretcher. He carefully hefted Chris onto it, letting them help. “He seems hypothermic,” he said helpfully to the nurse and doctor who took him away, wheeling him through the double doors to their left quickly. 

Melissa caught his wrist in a surprising show of bravery and got up in his face. “Hale, what the hell happened to him?”

Peter shook his head. “I don’t know. I found him that way-“

“And where was he for you to find him?” she demanded.

Peter narrowed his eyes. “He confronted me earlier and threatened me in the assumption I knew something about what’s coming. However, I had no idea what he meant. I researched it at home and when I realized Christopher was in deeper than he probably even knew, I went to his apartment to confront him with some information. I knocked, the door swung open, and he was lying on the floor of the front hall just like that.”

Melissa cursed. “Damn it. I knew something was going on. The kids are being odd again.” She eyed him. “Whatever happened to you being dead and then disappearing this last time and presumed dead?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I fear rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” he said loftily. “Honestly. Do you think I want to get mixed up in a hunter’s mistakes?” he asked, crossing his arms. “I was out buying cat food and the next thing I know _an Argent_ is throwing me against a pillar and demanding to know what I know about some mess he’s got himself in.”

Melissa blinked. “Cat food?”

Peter huffed. “Why is it so hard to believe I have a cat?!” He held up a hand. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go shower until I stop feeling dirty for helping an Argent,” he said, turning to leave, only to stop when a hand snagged his shirt.

“Oh no you don’t! We’re going to call Scott and you’re going to tell him what the hell is going on, okay?” she said, ‘guiding’ Peter back to the waiting area. She leaned closer to his ear so that nobody heard her next words. “I have a very protective friend in law enforcement on speed dial who happens to have wolfs bane bullets and an intense hatred for my ex-husband just because he is an asshole. Imagine what he probably feels for the man who once kidnapped his only child?” she said and Peter grimaced as she guided him into his seat. “Now sit down.”

Peter forced a polite smile. “Yes, Ma’am.” He sat heavily and waited reluctantly for the oncoming storm of having to defend himself to a bunch of teenagers. 

~

Peter was starting to fear for his safety from his nephew and Scott’s insistence, but Melissa – the blessing in blue scrubs that she was – came to get them all and led them to the room where Chris Argent was resting. Once he’d gotten warm, he was out of the woods, so she shoved them all inside, made sure nobody was coming, and shut the door behind them, standing with her back to the door as she nodded for Scott to go ahead.

Scott cleared his throat, standing beside Chris Argent. “Um, Mr. Argent… what happened?”

Chris swallowed, looking up at the ceiling. “Nothing. I forgot my medication-“

“Lie,” Derek said softly and Argent glowered. Derek huffed. “Your heart. I can hear a lie.” 

Allison stepped up and took her father’s hand. “Dad, something’s after us. You know what it is. You said so earlier. When Isaac got attacked. It was just like this, he was freezing cold.” She looked around at the others. “The same thing happened tonight. Lydia, Ethan, Aiden, and Derek all got attacked by those- those things.”

“Nightmarchers,” Ethan muttered.

Scott turned back to look at Ethan, who was standing further in the corner with Aiden. “What?” he asked sharply. “You recognized those things?”

Ethan bit his lip, shaking his head as he huddled into Aiden’s side. “No. It’s nothing probably. Just…” He looked away. “Danny was telling me these ghost stories one time and in Hawaiian folklore, there are these ghost warriors called Nightmarchers. The legend says if they look you in the eyes you have to join them or die.” He looked at Aiden, then back to Scott. “You saw it. It looked us in the eyes and we just… we went cold. And empty. It’s like something was taken out of me. It sort of felt similar. I’m sure it’s not, I just thought about it.”

Peter sighed, rubbing a hand over his head. “You’re not far off,” he said, turning his narrowed eyes on Chris Argent. “Why did you come to me and accuse me of resurrecting the shadow warriors when you are the one they’re after,” he said and Allison stepped to her dad’s defense.

“Hey, I’m sure he had a good reason. And he said they might be after him, not that he _knows_ -“

“You went and pissed off some Tengu, Christopher, just own up to it so we can stop them from destroying this town to get to you,” Peter said sternly and Chris turned to him in surprise. Peter narrowed his eyes. “I’m not an idiot, in spite of what you may think.”

“What’s a Tengu?” Derek asked softly, looking at Peter closely.

Peter turned back to Argent, arms crossed. “Care to explain, or should I?” he asked.

Chris groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “Tengu are demons, sort of. They’re spirits. They can be good or bad. Generally they’re protectors. They’re also omens of war-“

“Too long,” Peter said, turning to Derek without preamble. “I’d bet having to have more fingers sewn back on that Mr. Argent here was trained by Tengu at some point in his past, going by his gifts in violence, and at some point he gave up worshipping the Tengu spirits and recently he did something to piss them off and now we’re all screwed,” he said simply. He looked at the faces and frowned. “Where’s Stiles? He’d be more help right now.”

Nobody spoke, looking around, and Melissa stepped forward, hands up. “Where the hell is Stiles?” she stressed, looking around at them. “Scott?!”

Scott bit his lip. “I don’t know.” He looked at the others. “I didn’t see him,” he admitted.

Aiden nodded. “Last we saw him, he was making out with some girl. Then Danny and I realized Ethan was missing and that’s the last time anybody saw Stiles.”

Peter frowned. “Pardon my doubt, but Mr. Stilinski may be a teenager, but he’s not the kind of teenager who would ignore _this_ in favor of some girl,” he said with a tilt to his head. “Did nobody really think he could be missing?”

Scott looked at Isaac, who shrugged. “We just… figured he might’ve finally got lucky,” Scott said and Melissa groaned.

“Scott, this is _Stiles_! How the hell are you okay with demon warriors being around without _Stiles_ right at your side?” she asked. 

Ethan scoffed. “Like they pay that much attention to him anymore,” he said, then nodded towards Isaac. “Stiles and Isaac are fighting over Scott’s attention and between Isaac and the new girl, Scott has his hands full, so Stiles has been doing a lot on his own.”

Chris Argent sighed. “Great, Hale, your brilliant little werewolf friends have just now noticed that the _Sheriff_ ’s child is missing.”

Peter stalked over to Scott, looking him in the eyes from so close that everybody tensed and Derek moved, poised to intervene if he had to. “Mr. McCall, comprehend what I’m saying to you: Stiles is the best asset you have at your disposal and he’s _gone_ because you were too distracted to notice. Stiles has _magical potential_. He has the potential to become your emissary one day in the future. If you want to be a proper alpha, _do not_ just ignore your best hope at success,” he said in a low, steady voice. He stepped away. “And all of you should really know better,” he added. “Stiles Stilinski is shockingly intelligent. You really didn’t think to go to him for help?” 

Aiden snorted. “Shockingly intelligent my ass-“

“There is a reason that my father targeted Stiles,” Chris said from the bed and Allison tensed. “The message fell flat, but Stiles has a perpetual target on his back because-“

“Because he’s a human running with wolves,” Derek grunted and Chris shook his head.

“Because he’s smarter than the rest of you combined and they know where to strike to cripple this whole operation,” he said firmly. 

Scott glanced at Allison, and she bit her lip. “Dad… Stiles isn’t exactly… himself,” she said gently. She looked back to him. “What we did- what we had to give to save you guys? It’s doing stuff to us all.”

Melissa looked at Scott. “What’s going on?”

Scott shook his head. “I’m mostly okay compared to them. I’m having problems shifting, but Stiles…” He looked at Allison again and she sighed heavily.

“I keep blacking out,” she admitted. “And when I wake up, I’m not where I was last. I’ll have nightmares but while I’m awake. I had one leaving home and woke up at school in the hallway. Also I almost shot Lydia because- because I blacked out while we were target shooting.”

Chris tried to sit up. “Allison-“

“I didn’t, Isaac caught the arrow, but I can’t shoot most of the time and I black out and have nightmares, but Stiles…” She shook her head. “He told us he’s having nightmares so bad he wakes him and his dad up screaming and his dad has to hold him down he’s thrashing so bad. And he started having panic attacks again.”

Scott bit his lip and nodded. “Because he- he keeps forgetting how to read.”

Peter groaned. “Forgetting how to read as in-“

“He says the words will literally slide off the page sometimes. Or rearrange themselves. Or just be symbols instead,” Scott clarified. “It’s better now, same as Allison’s shooting and my shifting, but it’s still pretty bad. Chances are if he’s missing now, he probably had a waking nightmare like Allison and ran to hide somewhere or-“

“Or what if he went to hurt someone, Scott?” his mom said, stepping in. “What if he’s like Allison? What if he’s doing things in his blackouts? He has access to John’s guns, he has a way of getting into the sheriff’s station to where they keep the real guns, he has a jeep to drive into another tree, he has all the tools necessary to hallucinate that somebody is trying to hurt you all and he could do something terrible!” She shook her head. “I cannot believe you let him disappear like that without going after him-“

“I had other things to deal with!” Scott argued. 

Derek sighed dramatically. “He’s right, Mrs. McCall. We were being attacked by weird shadow warriors-“

“Tengu,” Peter offered and Derek narrowed his eyes at him.

“We were all being attacked by Tengu. Stiles wasn’t a priority at the moment, living was,” he said and Scott gave him a grateful nod. 

Isaac cleared his throat. “It still stands that she’s not wrong,” he said, and Scott gave him a betrayed frown. “Scott, Stiles knows how to hurt us, too, not just other humans. He knows more werewolf lore than Derek and Derek was born one,” he said and Derek huffed in disbelief. “He _does_. He learned archaic Latin from Lydia just so he could translate the entire Argent Bestiary to put together with Peter’s bestiary and he _read it all_. Thousands of pages of werewolf lore and myths and he has it all in his head, it’s just a matter of what details he can recall.”

Peter sighed. “Item two on the list, someone go find Stiles.”

“We don’t need to.” Everybody looked at Derek, who was looking out the window into the parking lot. He turned back, slightly pale. “The Sheriff’s truck is parked sideways outside the entrance to the ER. I’d bet anything something happened to Stiles.”

Melissa cursed. “Damn it!” She wrenched open the door and was gone in a whirl of her blue jacket, door hanging open behind her.

“Stiles!” Scott gasped as he followed his mother, running down the hall.

Peter tilted his head, eyes closed for a moment, and then sighed. “Not Stiles. Sheriff Stilinski is looking for Scott and Melissa to ask if they saw him,” he said for the benefit of the humans. He looked at Isaac. “Where would Stiles go? If he was scared, who would he trust to help him if not Scott?”

Isaac tilted his head and looked up. “Well… I guess Lydia.”

Peter hummed. “Ms. Martin, I like her almost as much as Stiles,” he said and Derek glared. “Where might we find her, Isaac?” he asked.

Isaac looked around. “She was at the party, but-“

Aiden’s head popped up. “Danny grabbed her when everybody ran because Derek busted the party. I saw the shadow things so I handed her to Danny and said to run.”

“Crap,” Isaac said, looking around. “Danny’s a big guy but he’s not a werewolf, if Stiles has snapped into some delusion, he could get through Danny pretty easily to get to Lydia for help if he tried to stop him.”

Allison nodded. “Alright, Scott’s here with his mom. Isaac, you go home and see if he shows up looking for Scott,” she instructed. “Aiden, you go to Stiles’s house and see if he goes home-“

“I’m going to find Danny and Lydia,” Ethan said, already headed towards the door.

Aiden rolled his eyes. “Ethan, are you sure that’s a good idea? Do you really think you’re the best choice to protect them from Stiles if you need to?”

Ethan glared at him. “You think Allison would be more capable of protecting Lydia and _Danny_ ,” he said pointedly. 

“Ethan, this isn’t the time to try winning brownie points-“

“I’m not letting anything happen to him!” Ethan snapped, and then flushed. “Them. To them, I mean.”

Derek slapped a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ, will you just _go_ already?” he asked, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. “I’m too old for this crap-“

“And that’s exactly why you’re going to go driving around to see if you can track Stiles’s scent,” Allison interrupted and Derek balked. “You’re older in age and in amount of time as a werewolf. If anybody’s going to be able to catch Stiles’s scent, it’s going to be the one with the most training of tracking scents,” she said simply.

Derek huffed. “And why should I be following _your_ orders?” he asked bitterly, even as he shrugged on his jacket.

Peter glared at her as well. “Because Scott left, neither Christopher nor I know Stiles’s habits well enough to delegate. Trust me, I’m not any happier than you are listening to an _Argent_ order around a bunch of werewolves,” he grumbled. 

The others left and Derek stopped beside Allison, glaring. “Well where are you going?” he asked and she glanced at her father.

“I’m staying here. With my dad. If these things are coming after him again, they’re going through me first,” she said firmly.

Derek actually nodded. “Good,” he said, turning to stalk out without anything else to say.

Allison turned to Peter, who crossed his arms to mirror hers. “Now let’s get to the _real_ reason you’re staying behind.”

She crossed and sat on the chair beside her father’s bed. “Because you’re not going to get him while he’s weak,” she said with a vicious sharpness to her words. “I know better than to trust you, even if Derek doesn’t.”

Peter laughed softly. “You think Derek trusts me? You’re terribly misinformed, my dear. Derek would kill me if I wasn’t the last relative he had in this world, I’m certain.”

Allison paled. “Cora…” she trailed off and Peter looked away. “Oh.”

Peter sighed, leaned back against the wall. “Derek and I are the last surviving Hales, and that is the only reason he hasn’t put me down like the mindless animal he thinks I am. I’m only here now because _someone_ -” He glared at Chris. “- assaulted me on the way to my car and accused me of doing what he knew he had done and my eagerness to _not_ lose the last family I have when he inevitably gets dragged into the circus that is Scott McCall’s pack and dies a terrible death at the hands of the Tengu.” He smiled a viciously sarcastic smile at them both. “The Tengu that your father brought down upon us all, I might add.” He scoffed. “If it wasn’t for that damn lingering affection or my nephew, I’d have packed a bag, grabbed my cat, and skipped town tonight.”

Allison frowned. “You have a _cat_ -“

“YES! I have a cat!” Peter cried throwing his hands up. “What is so hard to process about me having a pet?! I’m a _person_ , you know!”

Chris sighed. “Hale, she doesn’t mean anything-“

“No, she does, she clearly is an Argent, I’ll give her that,” Peter said bitterly, turning to look out the window. “Look, I’m staying here because even if I’m practically an omega, there has always been a pack in Beacon Hills and now there is a pack of teenagers and if they all die because they’re in over their heads, that’s it. The end of werewolves in this town.” He took a breath and let it out slowly. “My parents, as narrow-minded as they might’ve been, didn’t instill the importance of our legacy in me for shits and giggles. My sister didn’t come to be the most respected and incredible alpha that this region ever knew by giving up on people and running.” He closed his eyes. “If nothing else, I know Derek won’t run away from the fight and I’m not abandoning him now that I’m more stable.”

“I can understand that.” Peter startled, turning back to see Chris Argent nodding. “Allison and I thought about leaving, but Allison made me see that we have to do what we can to help these kids.”

Allison nodded. “I know I am one of ‘these kids’, but enough people have died here. Dad and I can help protect people, so we kind of have to.”

Chris nodded. “And even though I still distrust you and really don’t doubt you’ll kill us all one day,” he said and Peter snorted. “I know what it’s like to only have one person left,” he said, sliding his hand into his daughter’s.

Peter nodded. “I’m going to go see what Melissa knows,” he said softly, turning to leave the room quickly and quietly.

~

Melissa was gently stroking John’s forearms as he gripped the desk between them with a punishing grip, going by his white knuckles, and Peter raised an eyebrow. “Well now,” he teased and Melissa jumped, then glowered at him. He sighed. “You’re no fun,” he said and then turned to the Sheriff. “Any word on Stiles?”

John gave an amusingly familiar eye roll and looked at Melissa. “Please tell me I’m hallucinating, too.”

She huffed. “No, that would definitely be him really standing there.”

John huffed. “Well then, Romero, care to tell me why you care where my kid is?” he challenged.

“Ah, zombie jokes, nice.” Peter snickered. “No guessing whose kid Stiles is, huh-“ He was silenced by Stilinski grabbing him by the front of his shirt and dragging him in with an almost alarmingly fast move.

“Don’t fuck with my kid, Hale,” John said in a low, warning voice, eyes a dangerous shade of desperate. “Now I’ll ask again. What. Do. You. Care?”

Peter dropped the smile and gave him a serious stare. “Because Stiles knows how to kill werewolves and it’s been brought to my attention that Ms. Argent is known to have waking hallucinations just like Stiles’s nightmares. If he’s having waking nightmares, he could mistake us for enemies and kill us all,” he said in a low voice. “We need to find him before he does something he will regret because of a hallucination. Stiles is a lot of things, but most of all he’s smart. Too smart to have nobody keeping him from going off the board.”

John deflated some, letting Peter go. “If he hurt someone, it would kill him,” he said weakly. “I have to find him.”

Peter nodded. “I know. The kids have all gone out looking for him. With any luck we’ll have him in the next few hours.”

Sheriff Stilinski looked at him suddenly. “Wait, why are you here anyhow?”

Melissa leaned over towards him. “He brought Chris in. Whatever’s going on, Chris is at the center of it. He got attacked.”

John gave Peter a suspicious look and he huffed. “Well I couldn’t leave him to die and not fix this mess he started and dragged us all into.” He leaned against the counter. “I just want to get this over with. I have a nice little quiet apartment. I want to go back, hang out with my cat, go to work, and then never get involved in supernatural stuff again. I know that’s too much to ask, but it’s my deepest desire,” he said earnestly.

John snorted. “Of course you have a cat, you probably have an evil cat that’s just as crazy as you,” he said and Peter let his head fall to the counter with a thump.

~

It ended up taking six hours to find Stiles. Sheriff Stilinski had to call in that his son was missing and possibly hallucinating and, for all their work sniffing him out, it was a couple deputies who found him. He had parked on the side of the road just outside of town and managed to get halfway out of the jeep before a panic attack bad enough he almost fainted from lack of oxygen had left him with one leg out of the jeep, his body slumped back in the seat as he stared up at the ceiling muttering unintelligibly.

All the kids were called back, even Danny and Lydia had followed Ethan back, and they all arrived just as Stiles came in. He was able to walk under his own steam, but the minute John hugged him, he broke down crying, collapsing into his father’s arms. Even Peter had to admit that the broken sobs of, “I did it, I did it, it’s my fault!” were hard to hear and he barely cared. Peter saw even Aiden and Ethan flinch when Stiles pressed his face into his father’s shoulder and whispered, “Help me, Daddy.”

It would take someone far more heartless than a murderer or a psychopath to not feel sympathy for Stiles.

~

Melissa came back to where John was waiting in the waiting area with Scott, Derek, and Peter – everyone else had gone home or to visit Argent – and she shook her head. “I’m sorry but there’s nothing physically wrong with him,” she said, sitting beside John. 

He sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “I should be relieved, I should be delighted that he’s not in the beginning stages of schizophrenia or something, but if it was physical, he could be treated,” he said in a rough, hoarse tone. 

Scott looked at his mom with worried eyes, so much more the teen he was than the alpha he was meant to be in that moment. “Mom… what is going to happen to him?”

She sighed. “He’ll be released to his dad. He’s fine now,” she said, holding up her hands. “He’s entirely lucid, just… just really worn down. As for what he’s saying he did…” She looked at John, and he glared.

“Nobody is interviewing him and hearing that. I’ll look into it personally, but otherwise, we’re _not_ entertaining the idea that my son helped that psycho in any way. There is no way he could have. He was _home_ that night.”

Scott bit his lip, guilty eyes flickering to the Sheriff. “Actually… we sort of snuck into the school,” he admitted and John and Melissa both turned angry looks on him. “It was mischief night!-“

“It was the night _before_ mischief night,” John growled and Scott edged closer to his mother nervously, but decided against getting too close when he saw the look on her face. 

“Yeah well… it was past midnight so it was technically,” he said. “And we always prank Coach. It’s a tradition. We’ve done it since we had to ride our bikes there to do it,” he said and Melissa groaned, sliding down in the plastic seat.

“Scott, _why_ ,” she groaned. “You mean Stiles might-“

“No! No he was with me!” Scott said quickly. “Well… after I got there he was,” he said, then paled. “Oh God, Stiles called me from the school and I met him there,” he said, looking up. “What if- what if he _did_ black out?” he asked quickly.

“Then you have to lie.” Everybody turned to Peter, who propped his chin on his fingertips. “Sheriff, your son will go down for aiding and abetting a fugitive. Nobody will buy magical tree induced blackouts. So he’ll go to prison. He’ll be tried as an adult at his age and with the severity of his involvement after he helped rescue the same girl he helped kidnap, I’m sure.” He shrugged. “Or you can let him go down for something he’s being control for or just doesn’t know about.”

John snorted. “Fuck it, I’m getting impeached anyways. Even if I wasn’t, I’d cover this up anyways. If Stiles had honestly did something of his own actions, I’d let the legal system handle it. I love him, but if it was a stupid decision, he’d have to pay for it himself. And yes, sneaking out was stupid, but not- not _helping a killer_ stupid,” he stressed.

Derek looked up sharply. “Impeached?”

Melissa and Scott shared a long look, and Scott nodded. “My dad is leading the investigation.”

“Yeah well, no offense Scott, and no offense Melissa, but he’s an asshole, always has been an asshole, and if this impeachment goes through, I’m going to kick his ass,” John said simply, sitting back. “If I’m fired anyways, why not? It’s worth being on probation.” 

Derek rolled his eyes. “Back on the topic of what is going to happen to Stiles, please?”

Melissa nodded. “John can take him home in a few hours.”

John turned to Scott. “I want someone with him at all times. At school, after school, at night if I’m at work, on the weekends, I want him to never be alone.”

Scott nodded. “Well keep someone on him.”

Peter tilted his head. “We should probably do the same with Chris Argent. The Tengu are after him, after all.”

Scott nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Although I don’t know if he’d agree to that.”

Derek shook his head. “Allison will.” They all looked at him. “She knows she blacks out so she won’t trust herself to keep him safe, but he’s her dad so she’ll do whatever she has to to keep him safe.”

Scott nodded. “Yeah, she probably will,” he agreed. 

Peter leaned back, looking at Derek. “Are you okay here? If you don’t need a ride, I think I’m heading home.” Derek gave him a flat look and Peter held up a hand. “Fine, spare me for having a little decency.

“You wouldn’t have known decency back before you went insane,” Derek said with a slight smirk and Peter just grinned.

“Who says I was ever sane, my dear nephew,” he said as he stood to leave.

~

Peter had just finally settled comfortably in bed, moments from dozing off, when a knock at the door woke him up. His eyes snapped open and he whimpered. “Not. Happening.” He waited, almost hoping it was going to go away, but the knocking only got louder. He rolled over with a groan, earning a one-green-eyed glare from Loki as he jostled her off his hip, but he just ran a hand over hear head as he slid out of bed and ambled through the apartment.

When he got to the door he peeked through the peephole, and drew back. He blinked his vision clearer then leaned back in, frowning when the sight was the same. He stepped back and opened the door, raising an eyebrow at the people in front of his door. “What could you possibly want?” he asked as he took in Derek and the Argents. 

Derek nodded to Allison, who rolled her eyes. “We want to stash my dad here,” she said and Peter’s other eyebrow joined it’s mate, looking over at Chris Argent.

“You want to what?”

Derek shrugged. “You manage to avoid the supernatural threats when you’re not purposefully getting into it, so when Scott was listing all the people we know, you were the one that made the shortlist. You’re always here, you’re strong enough to fight off the Tengu long enough for Mr. Argent to run if need be, and you can’t kill him because he’d kick your ass for trying.”

Peter raised a clawed hand to push his hair back from his face with a pointed smirk. “Oh yeah?” he asked Argent, who rolled his nearly silver eyes.

“Don’t mess up your manicure in a weak attempt to threaten me, Hale,” Chris said and Peter flashed his teeth at him. Derek sighed dramatically.

“Peter, just let him hide here. Nobody trusts you so you don’t have to trust him. But, you can protect yourself if he turns on you and if you turn on him, he can protect himself,” he said and Peter huffed.

“Damn it, don’t I get a vote?”

“No,” three voices said in unison.

“Mrooow?” Peter looked down at Loki, who was twining herself around his ankle, looking up at the others suspiciously, only to smile when she stopped with her gaze on Derek and yowled warningly, her stumpy tail moving in a way that said, had it been whole, it would be flickering predatorily. 

Peter smirked at Derek’s suspicious and alarmed expression. “Good girl,” he said, rubbing his foot along her side.

“Huh,” Allison said, tilting her head. “You really do have a cat.”

He leaned on the door casing, looking at her flatly. “That I do. Also, I have a job.” He looked at Derek. “I don’t sit in the dark and brood all day like a certain other Hale,” he pointed out. “In fact, I have work in-“ He looked at the clock on the cable box back in the living room. “Six hours. So I’d really like some sleep, now,” he stressed.

Allison smiled wryly. “Great!” She leaned over behind Derek and picked up a duffel bag, throwing it at him. “There’s Dad’s stuff. Be a nice host and carry it in for him?” she said with a dangerously sweet smile.

Peter glowered and pointedly tossed the bag behind him, not watching where it went. “I really wish you would’ve drowned for real,” he said, turning on his heel without another word. He stooped to pick up Loki, snuggling her as he headed towards his bedroom without a backwards glance. “I won’t be held responsible for my cat defending her territory, Christopher,” he said, ignoring the low chuckle that followed him as he stormed back into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

~

When Peter came out of his room again, Chris Argent was sitting at his kitchen table _cleaning a gun_. “Seriously? You’re really going to clean your guns where I eat?” he asked flatly on his way past to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Loki hopped up on the table and sat there looking at the gun Argent was cleaning before casually walking over and sitting on top of the disassembled barrel, glancing up at Argent as if daring him to move her.

Peter chuckled in amusement. “Awww that’s Daddy’s little girl,” he purred, stritching at her head on the way past. Argent just gave him an amused glance, only to double take, looking at him for the first real time.

“What are you _wearing_?” Argent asked and Peter glanced down at himself.

“What? Is something on me?” he asked.

“… a sweater vest,” Argent answered and Peter huffed.

“Oh please, are you really going to talk to ME about fashion?” he asked, pointedly gesturing to the stained, gray V-neck Argent was wearing. 

Chris rolled his eyes. “I meant, you’re wearing something besides jeans and a Henley.”

Peter scoffed. “Please, I’m not _that_ related to Derek.” He held up a hand and gestured to his outfit of black slacks, a steel gray shirt, a gray and blue patterned sweater vest, and a bright blue tie. “Calvin Klein. They like it when I wear clothes we sell at work while I’m at work.” He fixed his tie looking at his reflection in the microwave. “I like this tie. It’s new,” he commented. “Brings out my eyes.”

Chris Argent continued to stare. “You work at a _mall_?”

Peter nodded. “Yep. Macy’s. Women’s apparel.” 

Argent blinked. “You sell women’s clothes. You, the _werewolf_ that killed something like ten or so people, you sell women’s clothing at Macy’s.”

Peter sighed. “Yes, and I absolutely have to leave now.” He walked over and startled Argent into sliding away from the table some. Peter rolled his eyes and leaned down, pressing a kiss to his cat’s head. “I’ll be home in a little while, my dear. Be sweet and piss on Christopher’s bag for Daddy,” he said, smirking at Argent when he straightened up and turned to leave.

“If she pisses on my bag, I’m throwing her out the window!” Chris called after him.

Peter scoffed at the door. “Hurt my cat and you’ll WISH the Tengu got you,” he called back on his way out.

~

When Peter got home, Chris Argent was lounging on his couch watching TV. “Damn, I’d hoped you were a hallucination.” He walked past him to the kitchen, looking around. “Loki? Where are you?” he called, looking under the table. He went to his bedroom and frowned when he didn’t find her. “Hey, where is my cat? She always greets me at the… door.” Peter stopped on his way out into the living room when he finally spotted his cat.

She was curled up beside Chris Argent, tucked into the curve of his hip on the very edge of the couch. Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “You traitor!”

Chris chuckled, stroking the cat’s head, earning a happy purr. “She’s actually kind of adorable when she isn’t trying to eat my shoestrings.” 

Peter huffed, crossing his arms. “Turning my cat against me. Nice.” 

Chris rolled his eyes, turning back to the television. “If it makes you feel any better, Derek came by, I guess to make sure I didn’t kill you in your sleep, and she bit him. Twice.”

Peter smirked, crossing over to scoop Loki up. “That’s my girl!” he said, tucking her into his chest as he passed the couch and curled up on his chair. “Daddy’s proud,” he said, kissing her head. “Did that mean old man scare you with his guns?” he asked her, earning a soft meow. “No? You weren’t scared? Good, cause he’s just a human. If he scares you, Daddy can eat him,” he promised and Chris rolled his eyes. 

“You have serious problems, Hale,” Chris said and Peter smirked with a dark twist of his lips.

“You’re just now figuring this out?” he asked, only to be distracted by the television. “What are you watching on my TV? What even is that?” 

Chris raised an eyebrow. “The Wonder Years,” he said, as if that was obvious. Peter raised an eyebrow and Argent actually turned, sitting up a little straighter, to look at him. “You never watched The Wonder Years?”

Peter looked at the screen. “Going by the horror of that outfit, I’m assuming it was before I lived somewhere with a TV,” he said and Chris sat up straight.

“Wait, you didn’t have a TV? I mean, yeah, you said you’re only thirty but you would’ve remembered this,” he said and Peter sat back, stroking Loki’s head.

“My parents didn’t like televisions. They didn’t like a lot of things.” He sighed and offered a small, amused smile. “I got _addicted_ to TV when I moved in with my sister,” he added. “My sister let me have a TV in my room and I pretty much lived there, only coming out when she made me, or when Laura and Derek wanted me to play with them.” Argent tensed and Peter sighed. “I’m not going to attack you just because I thought about my family. I’m not _Derek_ ,” he pointed out.

Argent looked at him closely. “I didn’t know your parents ever lived apart from your family,” he said. “And I remember having to keep an eye on the Hale pack to see if there was sign of Talia Hale going rogue,” he clarified. 

Peter smirked, clearly amused. “My sister didn’t become an alpha because my parents died,” he said and Chris’s eyebrows crept up higher. “My father was still ‘technically’ an alpha when my family was killed. My mother had died two years before the fire, but my father was in the house. But without a real pack, an alpha isn’t that much of an alpha. He was only spared from being an omega because my sister let him come visit during holidays and such and stay in touch with her children.” He shook his head. “My parents lived in town. They left the house to Talia and we moved into town when she got married.”

Chris leaned his elbows on his knees, clearly intrigued. “I didn’t know any of this. How did the Hale pack have two alphas? A father and daughter at that. How did your sister get her powers?”

Peter smiled sadly. “I think I’ve said more than enough about my _werewolf_ family to a _hunter_.” He stood up with Loki in his arms. “Werewolves talking to hunters about family is why they’re dead.,” he said with a more dark and bitter tone on the way out, hunched over his cat as he disappeared into his bedroom.

~

Peter woke up blessedly late on his day off. He slipped out of bed, stretched languidly, and slowly ambled out of his bedroom towards the kitchen, only to stop and backtrack when he saw his couch.

Or rather Stiles sitting on his couch. With Loki glaring at him from the arm. Eating Peter’s Doritos. “What the ever-loving fuck are you doing here?” Peter grumbled, blinking tiredly.

Stiles startled, scaring Loki off the couch, but before he could respond the front door opened and Derek and Chris Argent came walking in. “Oh, sorry, Stiles, I would’ve talked in here if I knew he’d get up,” Derek said, walking around the couch, only to jump back when Loki yowled warningly, hissing at his foot. “Stupid cat!” Derek barked, flashing his eyes at her, and Peter bared his teeth to react, only to be beat there by Argent stealthily slipping past Derek to scoop Loki up and cradle her.

“Derek, don’t you dare.” He stroked her little head and pouted. “Awwww is the mean ol’ werewolf scary? I bet you could take him,” he said softly, going to sit in Peter’s chair. “Even if your owner is a psycho, you’re not stupid.”

Peter smirked at the befuddled expressions on Stiles and Derek’s faces. Though Stiles looked more amused than anything. He yawned widely as he walked over and flopped beside Stiles, reaching into the bag to grab a handful of Doritos. Stiles wiggled away and Peter glared. “You’re eating my food, the least you can do is share, you little shit,” he said, petulantly grabbing another handful before Stiles could draw away. He looked at the TV and perked up. “Oooh, Gilmore Girls, nice choice, Stiles.”

Stiles snorted. “I’m more amused you have this on DVD,” he said and Peter shrugged, chomping on a Dorito.

“Lorelei and Rory are funny,” he said simply. 

Stiles snickered. “They’re totally like me and my dad… only without the teen pregnancy part,” he said. “I can’t believe you don’t have season six. I wanted to watch an episode with Luke’s daughter-“

“SHHHHH!” Peter threw a Dorito at Stiles. “It was only on season five when I ended up in a coma, I haven’t gotten around to buying five, six, and seven.” He hesitated. “Okay, at least tell me Luke and Lorelei end up together, because he’s insanely attractive and she’d be a fool not to see that he loves her no matter what,” he amended.

Stiles smirked. “You’ll have to look and see,” he said, then smirked. “And damn straight he’s attractive. He’s sexy as hell. I mean have you _seen_ that ass?” He nodded. “Fashion sense sucks – we see where Derek modeled his own fashion sense – but he’s seriously handsome.”

Peter nodded. “I blame myself for Derek’s sartorial choices.” He looked up at Derek, who was still standing beside Chris Argent’s chair, watching them both with a confused expression. “I should’ve noticed where your clothing choices were heading and nipped the ‘mountain man’ thing in the bud when you were about twelve.”

Stiles hummed, crunching on a chip. “In his defense, he wore a pretty blue shirt the other night. He looked really nice in a color,” he said, then leaned forward to look at Derek. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, cause I was busy losing my mind, but Scott took a picture. You looked very nice in light blue. You should really wear it more often.”

Chris just chuckled. “I think you guys broke Derek.” He glanced at Stiles. “Also, for someone who calls him various zombie names, you and Peter seem to getting along well.”

Stiles made a face. “You don’t have to like someone to share a mutual appreciation of an attractive older man.” He blinked. “Oh yeah, by the way, never mention this to my dad. I still haven’t had time to sit him down and give him that talk yet. It’s in the works, but not dying takes precedent for coming out,” he said pointedly.

Peter hummed as Luke came on the screen. “I’m finally old enough that it’s not creepy to find a man my sister’s age attractive. It’s so nice,” he said casually and Stiles snickered.

“I had a crush on Luke when I was like thirteen, at least you weren’t a teenager,” he said and Peter shrugged.

“I started watching it when it first aired in two-thousand, so I was only nineteen and he was forty-something. It made my sister very uncomfortable,” he said, smirking at Derek’s uneasy expression. “Apparently that’s genetic.”

Stiles glared over at Derek. “If you say something homophobic, I’m putting wolfs bane in your underwear drawer,” he warned.

Derek came out of his daze and snorted, rolling his eyes. “Oh please, Peter used to talk about boys with me because I had no chance to escaping, I’m just not comfortable with him talking about a guy your dad’s age being attractive.” He smirked. “Also, what underwear?” he asked and Stiles choked on a Dorito, though it went seemingly unnoticed by all the others. 

Peter nodded. “Yep. You see, I’ve mentioned before Derek and I were pretty much best friends before the fire-“

“Which is still questionable because my dad says you were insane even before the fire, by the way,” Stiles cut in, having recovered from his snacking near-death experience. “He said you were a nuisance around town when he was a deputy.”

Peter smirked and Derek cringed. “Oh God, I’d forgot about that.” Stiles glanced at him and Derek sat down on his other side, giving him a warning look. “Don’t ask-“

“I had the biggest crush on your dad,” Peter said simply, shrugging. 

Stiles’s head snapped around and he gaped. “Ew! Why?!”

Peter wiggled his eyebrows. “Handsome man in a uniform? With handcuffs? I’m pretty sure I got seven speeding tickets from your dad between seventeen and twenty-three,” he said with a smirk. “I’m surprised he remembers that,” he said and Chris Argent just shook his head.

“Poor Sheriff Stilinski,” he said and Peter chuckled darkly.

“He was a cute deputy with kind eyes and a witty demeanor and I was a kid with a serious issue with liking older men,” he said and Argent tilted his head.

“About that. I thought you were interested in Melissa McCall,” he said and Peter made a face.

“No, ew.” They all looked at him and he gestured with a Dorito. “She’s a beautiful woman, sure, but she’s a _woman_ ,” he stressed. He smirked. “Oh wait, does that make you uncomfortable, Christopher?” he asked, batting his eyelashes. “Bad enough it was a werewolf, nonetheless a _gay_ werewolf?”

He just met his eyes, not reacting otherwise. “Not at all,” he said and Peter huffed.

“Damn,” he said, munching on a chip. 

Stiles turned to Derek and raised an eyebrow. “ _That_ was your best friend when you were a kid?”

Derek made a face. “I swear he wasn’t this creepy before he turned evil,” he said, only to hesitate. “And it’s not like I really had any other options. He was the only boy besides me. I had three sisters and an uncle who was only seven years older,” he defended.

Stiles looked at Peter in surprise. “Seven years older?!”

Chris nodded, petting Loki still. “That was my reaction.”

Peter nodded. “I was born in eighty-one, Derek was born in eight-eight.”

Derek smirked. “Peter was a mistake. My mom was twenty-two when he was born, she got married to my dad when he was _two_ ,” he explained. “He was only four when he became an uncle.”

Chris huffed in amusement. “And I thought I was a much older brother and I was only twelve when Katie was born,” he muttered, only to pause his petting the cat suddenly.

Stiles froze with a chip on the way to his mouth when both Hales tensed on either side of him. Derek clenched a fist on his knee and his jaw tensed as he stood up without a word and walked to the door and then out of the apartment. Peter stood up slowly and forced a tight smile. “Excuse me, Stiles,” he all but whispered, disappearing back into his bedroom swiftly. Stiles gave Argent an annoyed glare and shook his head, but he didn’t speak as he turned back to the TV and reclaimed the Doritos for himself. 

~

When Peter came back out for lunch, he sat Stiles cooking in his kitchen. “Wait, you didn’t leave with Derek?”

Stiles eyed him. “Did they not explain this to you? You’re my temporary babysitter for the day.” He rolled his eyes. “Apparently everybody else is busy. Derek was here for a little while to drop me off and explain it to Argent. They figured they can’t trust you, but with Argent here you can’t hurt me. I don’t like or trust either of you, but I’m not that scared of either of you anymore.”

Peter smirked, eyes flickering blue. “Oh?” he asked, leaning into Stiles’s space.

Stiles just gave him a sad gaze. “You’re both very broken, desperate people,” he said and Peter was startled into taking a step back. “Since Cora…” He closed his eyes. “You’re not ‘scary psycho’ as much as ‘please just leave me alone’. Am I right?” he asked, then nodded to the living room. “Argent has been the same way since his wife killed herself and his father tried to turn his daughter into a killer. He’s not a hunter. Not really. He’s broken and just done with everything. He is only into this shit now because Allison is going to get involved anyways and at least he can protect her this way.” Stiles smiled bitterly. “You two are a lot alike. Both of you want out but it keeps sucking you back. Neither of you scare me because both of you want so badly to be left alone that you wouldn’t hurt me simply because you don’t want that much attention.”

Peter growled slightly. “Do not compare me to an Argent. Argents killed my family-“

“And so did you,” Stiles challenged. “I get the feeling recently that you’re slipping back into sanity, so you can understand that _you_ killed your niece and doing that broke your nephew.” Peter clenched his teeth, jaw working furiously. Stiles sighed, looking down at the pasta he was stirring. “For what it’s worth, I really do think that, had you been in full control of your wolf, you wouldn’t have hurt Laura,” he said softly and Peter’s breath caught. Stiles looked up with sympathy in his eyes. “But what’s done is done. You killed her. You broke Derek as a person. You attacked Lydia and you bit Scott and _you_ are the reason that the Argents came back to Beacon Hills.” Stiles shook his head. “I’m not pointing fingers, I’m just making it clear to you that… that you’ve done really bad things, but I know you’re not that person anymore. You pretend to be, but it doesn’t scare me anymore.” He gestured to Peter. “All of the ‘grr’ stuff? It doesn’t scare me because you are too broken to even bother with the trouble of hurting me. And Chris Argent is the same. He won’t hurt you. He won’t hurt Derek. He won’t hurt any of us, because he’s tired of it all.”

Peter looked at the pot absently, ignoring Stiles’s gaze. “It really is a shame I bit Scott, not you, Stiles. You’re far too intelligent to be hanging out with all of your friends.” He looked up and smirked at him. “Also, you really could do so much better than Derek, my boy. Think about it,” he said with a lecherous wink before he turned to head out of the kitchen. “Call me when it’s done!” he called back, cackling to himself as he heard Stiles’s heart going haywire as he panicked silently in the kitchen.

~

When Peter got home from an unusually rough day at work – God help the mothers of the bratty little shits building their Christmas lists early – all he really wanted was to get a cup of coffee, curl up on the couch with a book, and cuddle his cat.

Instead, the first sight he was met with was Stiles in his chair, turned sideways so his legs were across the arm of the chair, and the former alpha twins on his couch. “Why the hell are you in my house when I’m not here?” he asked in a tight, annoyed tone. “Hell, why are you in my house at all?”

One twin – Peter had no clue how to tell them apart, so he decided the one on the left was Twin One, and the one on the right was Twin Two – turned and sneered. “We’re dropping Stiles off at the babysitter’s house. We were just about to leave him here to wait with Mr. Argent for you to come back. Derek says Scott’s picking Stiles up after he gets off work.”

Stiles scoffed. “Yeah, apparently I’m a five year old now. Great time, huh?” he asked sarcastically.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Not a five year old, just blacking out and trying to kill us all. Big difference,” he added offhandedly. He eyed the twins. “And where _is_ Christopher?”

“Back here.” Peter frowned and walked into the room all the way, turning towards the opposite side of the living room, where normally sat the table that worked as his desk beside his bookcase, only to stop and drop his coat and scarf. His eyes widened when he spotted Argent finally.

“W- what the hell?!” Peter asked, then turned and looked back at the others instead of at Argent.

Stiles snickered and Twin One smirked. “You’re not the only one. He did the same thing when Mr. Argent answered the door like that,” he said, pointing at his brother, earning an elbow to the ribs. 

Peter cleared his throat, composing himself, and turned back to face Argent, eyebrow raised. “Care to tell me why you’re sweaty and half-naked on my living room floor?” he asked, fighting the heat rising in his cheeks as that statement filtered back into his mind.

Argent sighed as he sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. “What? I’m stuck in this apartment, I can’t go to the gym,” he said as if it was obvious.

“Yeah, about that, think you could talk my dad into spending more time on the treadmill at the gym? I know you go to the same one around the same time,” Stiles said, sitting up to look over the back of the couch at him. “He’s getting sorta pudgy,” he explained to Peter.

Argent raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “If he’s getting pudgy it’s just age. Trust me. Do you know how many twenty year old kids I’ve seen give up trying to out-lift the Sheriff?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so impressive, he can bench press all that weight,” he said flatly. “I’m talking cardio, dude. I don’t care if my dad can squat a refrigerator if his heart can’t take chasing down a perp.”

Chris chuckled. “Trust me, your father isn’t ‘pudgy’. I’ve seen him changing. He has better abs than I do.”

Peter eyed Argent’s abs and hummed, really doubting that statement. Argent chuckled, making his abs tense, and he looked up and realized he’d been caught staring. “So you can’t go to the gym and decided what? Push my desk out of the way and get naked on my floor? My carpet thanks you for your gross, sweaty body touching it,” he said flatly. 

“Would you like it touching something else?” he asked simply and Peter’s jaw _dropped_. 

Stiles gaped and both twins jerked around in unison. “Mr. Argent!” Twin Two cried, sounding scandalized. 

Argent rolled his eyes. “I meant the couch,” he stressed, moving onto his knees. “I don’t wanna know what goes on in your heads,” he said, muttering something that sounded like _teenagers_ as he moved to his hands and started doing pushups. 

Peter cleared his throat and reached down to grab his coat and scarf. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said, heading towards his bedroom, only to stop and do a double take when he noticed Argent was doing _one-armed pushups_. Both twins turned smirks on him when his heart started pounding and he glared at them, even as his face heated up. He looked back at Argent and his jaw clenched. “Oh that’s just playing dirty,” he grumbled, cheeks flushed as he stomped into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

~

Peter was really getting tired of having Chris Argent sleeping on his couch. He was simply not wired in a way that made it _okay_ to come out of his bedroom in the morning still half asleep, only to walk into the kitchen and find a half-naked man casually leaning against the counter in a way that drew attention to his partial nudity, sipping coffee that brought attention to the strong hand holding the mug. Add in that Peter hated said handsome, half-naked man on principle, what with the man in question being not just a hunter, but an _Argent_ hunter, and the whole arrangement was just not working for Peter.

“For the love of God, Argent. _Clothes_ ,” he all but groaned. He walked past Argent, trying to ignore how sleep-soft his short, silver-streaked hair was, or how unassuming and non-threatening he appeared to be in nothing but a pair of plaid sleep pants. It was entirely unfair, Peter thought as he grabbed the coffee pot and searched out a mug.

Chris chuckled. “You’re a werewolf. Isn’t nudity familiar and natural with your kind?” he asked in a rich, low tone that one only had when they hadn’t spoken yet for the day.

Peter snorted, not looking back as he poured sugar into his coffee. “Yes, nudity is natural to my kind, but oddly enough, I prefer people to be _clothed_. Especially when said ‘people’ are hunters in my kitchen.”

Peter jumped when Argent’s voice came _much_ closer behind him than he had expected. “Would you _really_ prefer I was more dressed?” he asked and Peter whirled around, splashing coffee out onto the counter as he flattened himself to the cabinet. Chris was only about six inches behind him. 

“Yes, yes I would,” Peter said in a rush, licking his lips in an attempt to distract himself from how fast his heart was beating. “How the hell did you do that?”

Chris smirked, his light eyes – almost silver instead of blue, they were so light – twinkling in amusement. “You hunt an animal for your whole life, you can’t help but pick up their ways,” he said, looking straight into Peter’s eyes with an intensity that was almost unnerving. “You’re a predator. You should be more aware. And less open with your weaknesses,” he commented seemingly off-handedly, but Peter knew better.

Peter narrowed his eyes. “Well it’s not often I need to be alert in my own kitchen. I can’t help early morning drowsiness makes me weak, what with this being my own home and all.”

Chris leaned slightly closer and Peter stopped breathing altogether. The smirk on Chris’s lips grew. “We both know that’s not what I mean,” he said in an even lower, rougher tone. Peter’s eyes narrowed as Chris backed off with a grin far more predatory than Peter found fit on the one who was supposedly the ‘weaker’ species in the room. “Good morning,” Chris said simply as he turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Peter absolutely dumbstruck, still flat to the cabinets with cooling coffee running across his countertop.

The worst part, in Peter’s opinion, was that it was impossible to not notice that the view of Argent’s back side as he left wasn’t half bad, either.

~

Peter got home a little early, having graciously met absolutely no red lights on the way home, and when he walked in the door, at first he didn’t see Argent and almost hoped that meant he had left. Then he heard the shower and sighed heavily. “Damn,” he grumbled, going to drop his bag on the kitchen table. He shrugged out of his jacket and laid it across the arm of the couch as he walked over to the couch. He collapsed back, sighing happily. He saw Loki asleep in his chair and smiled, reaching out so his fingertips just reached her to pet her little head. “Hello, gorgeous.”

“Well now. Not the greeting I expected, but nice to know you noticed.” Peter jumped, sitting up.

“Jesus Christ, I’m going to put a bell on you,” Peter growled as he turned to look at Chris, only to gape when he saw Chris standing there in a towel.

 _And nothing else_.

Chris smirked. “But it’s funny to watch you jump,” he said, leaning in the doorway with one hand on his towel and the other running over his short hair. “Anyways, you really should pay more attention. Vigilance keeps you alive.”

Peter huffed and leaned back, crossing his arms beneath his head and his ankles on the opposite end of the couch. “Oh yeah? You gonna take me out in my home?” he asked.

Chris walked closer. “You never know. I could.”

Peter held out a foot, narrowing his eyes when Chris stepped towards the couch. “Drip water on my couch and I’ll make you wish you had killed me.”

Chris chuckled. “I wish I’d killed you all the time,” he said and Peter smirked at him.

“Same here, Argent,” he quipped. He wiggled his foot. “Now. Go dry off and get dressed.”

“Yeah, about that.” Argent gestured to his towel. “I’ve finally ran out of clothes. I can’t leave to do laundry. As much as you hate me, can I borrow some clothes?” he asked.

Peter’s smirk slipped and he rolled his eyes. “Eurgh. Hunter never comes out of designer clothes.”

Chris shrugged. “That’s fine. I’m comfortable in a towel if you’re comfortable watching me walk around nearly naked,” he teased, winking at Peter as he turned and stalked back towards the bathroom. “Or, I’m fine with the other way,” Argent said and Peter glanced after him, only to gape when he simply _dropped his towel_ and finished the walk back into the bathroom entirely naked.

“I’ll get you clothes!” Peter choked out, scrambling off the couch and making a mad dash for his bedroom, trying to forcibly forget the sight of Chris Argent’s naked body out of his mind before it could get settled in to come back and visit him later.

~

Peter’s weak panting as he lay in the dark, and the guilty manner in which he wiped at the mess on his stomach confirmed that, unfortunately, he had failed at escaping a revisit from a certain set of mental images from earlier in the day. 

“Well this isn’t good,” Peter whispered out loud to himself, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

~

Peter tensed when Chris uttered the words, “I don’t want to do it, but we may have to just put Stiles down.”

Sure enough, every single werewolf standing behind Scott growled, eyes flashing and claws flicking out. “ _No_ ,” Scott growled. Even Isaac, who Peter had realized didn’t even like Stiles, looked ready to rip Chris apart for the suggestion. 

“I don’t want to face it any more than you, Scott, but he nearly killed Derek tonight,” Chris stressed. “What if it’s you next time? Whatever is wrong with him, it’s not going away.”

Peter sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Only two hours ago, Stiles had slipped out of his bed, fully sleepwalking, while Derek was watching him at home with his father and, before Derek could even react, Stiles had stabbed him with a blade that had been dipped in wolfs bane. He was fine, but it had taken two hours to find Stiles, even though he was on his way home by the time they found him. At current, they were standing outside the house where, just inside, Sheriff Stilinski and Derek were trying to get Stiles to talk to them about what had happened.

Peter saw the door opening and watched as Derek came down the steps. “Any word?” Scott asked and Derek shook his head.

“He doesn’t remember what he was doing. He was dreaming about the Tengu, but he didn’t stab anybody or anything in his dream. Full blackout, not just a hallucination,” Derek explained.

Scott glared at Chris and turned to Derek. “Mr. Argent thinks we’ve got to _kill him_.”

Derek’s head whipped around and immediately his eyes flashed blue. “What?”

Chris shook his head. “I don’t want to. I want to find a way to save him. But look, what if he’d killed you? Or what if it had been Scott? Your alpha could be killed by this teenager with some serious damage from the Nemeton. If he’s only going to get worse, it might come down to him or Scott-“

Peter started to speak but was too late. Derek crossed the space between them and grabbed Argent by the throat. “That. Isn’t. Even. An option,” Derek growled in slow, measured words that drove his point home. “Stiles is not going to be harmed.”

To his credit, Argent didn’t flinch, just grew very still. “He’s dangerous. He’s a risk to all of us-“

“And who the fuck brought the Tengu to Beacon Hills?” Derek snapped. “How about we just give you to them then? Hiding you is a _risk to all of us_.”

Argent’s lips tilted. “Amusing-“

“I promise I’m not joking,” Derek said, staring into his eyes. “If you try to come after Stiles, I’ll make sure there isn’t enough left of you to identify.”

“This human is a threat to your alpha, Derek,” Argent said pointedly. “He could kill _your_ alpha. Why would you not want the threat neutralized-“ He stopped and Peter bit his lip to hide a smirk when he saw Argent connect the dots. Argent’s eyes twinkled in amusement but his mouth stayed tight. “Has attraction to humans ever worked out well for you?”

Peter’s amusement burned off and his head snapped around. He saw the stricken look on Derek’s face and watched as Derek slowly let go of his throat and backed up slightly. “Alright, that’s enough, Argent,” Peter said in a low tone. He stepped up and put a hand on Derek’s shoulder, only to be shrugged off. Peter glared at Chris, who shrugged unapologetically.

Scott growled, walking to put himself between Derek and Argent. “This talk is over. Stiles is my best friend. I would rather let him kill me than hurt him, and I won’t let anybody else hurt him either,” he said fiercely. “Now leave my pack alone.”

Derek looked at Peter and nodded to his car. “Take him back with you. I don’t want him roaming alone. I care less about the Tengu getting him and more about what he might plan without someone watching him.”

~

Peter slammed the door to his apartment as soon as Chris was out of the way. “Are you out of your mind?! You would hurt a teenage human just to save your own ass?!” he demanded, startling Argent with his sudden outburst.

“Well look at you,” he muttered. “You almost sound like something other than a deranged killer-“

“Oh cut the shit,” Peter snapped. “You’re a hunter! You protect humans! How could you possibly suggest hurting Stiles?!”

Chris sighed. “I didn’t say I wanted to do it. I don’t want it to come down to it. But something is going on here. I’m sorry, but I have a daughter. If it comes down to protecting myself-“

“You would kill her friend?!” Peter asked. “I’m supposed to be the psychopath here!”

Argent tilted his head, stepping closer. “About that, why do _you_ care? What does it matter to you what happens to a random teenager?”

Peter growled in frustration. “Because he’s the smartest kid in this damn town and he keeps the whole pack together!” he cried. “Stiles may not be the actual genius like Ms. Martin, but he is what is keeping Scott in line, and Scott is all that’s keeping those twins in line! They’re fucked up beyond imagination after God knows what happened in their lives – far more fucked up than being burned and locked in my head did to me and I killed people left and right – and Derek is finally fitting into Scott’s pack! Scott is a half-decent alpha because Stiles is helping him and Derek needs that stability! He needs Scott’s pack, and Scott’s pack needs Stiles!”

Chris shook his head. “But why do you _care_? Derek doesn’t even like you, so what does it matter? If it comes down to you or Stiles-“

“I’d let him kill me,” Peter gritted out, storming past Argent. “You can’t have forgot already that I don’t exactly value my life-“ Argent caught his elbow and Peter jerked around, trying to pull away. “Get your hand off me-“

Argent gripped his arm so tight it almost hurt. “But why do you care about Derek if you don’t give a damn about yourself-“

“BECAUSE HE’S MY NEPHEW AND I LOVE HIM!” Peter’s eyes widened and Chris almost dropped his arm in surprise. Peter swallowed hard, chest heaving from the shouting. “Derek was my best friend before I lost my mind, but more than that, I’m the only family he has. He’s all that I have in this world besides Loki, and it’s my fault.” He blinked hard, shaking his head. “You weren’t wrong, Derek has it bad for that kid, and it’s terribly ill advised, but I’ve been the reason for Derek feeling that kind of pain before and I’ll be _damned_ if I let anybody do that to him again.” He shrugged Argent off and turned to head towards his bedroom. “Now let me go-“

Argent grabbed his wrist but Peter had had enough. He twisted and snatched both of Argent’s arms, spinning them around to slam him against the wall between the kitchen and the living room. “Let go- oh!” Argent rolled with the momentum and slammed Peter against the end of the counter, only to be shoved back against the table. The screech of the legs sliding across the floor was accompanied by a guttural grunt as Chris pushed off and slammed Peter against the refrigerator door, making it rock alarmingly. Peter panted as he looked at Chris in surprise, wrists pinned beside his head against the freezer door. Argent even looked surprised at himself for a moment, before he seemed to notice their position. Peter flushed when Argent shifted his stance and the movement slid his thigh fully between Peter’s legs, startling a gasp out of him.

Chris looked up at his face and smirked. The intensity in his gaze as he looked into Peter’s eyes made it feel almost like he was reading Peter from the inside out. He moved against Peter slightly and Peter barely bit back a whimper. All the blood in his body that wasn’t occupying his flushed neck and face was making its way south, and he knew damn well Argent could feel it. Argent tested his grip on Peter’s wrists and Peter inhaled sharply, only to groan at the heady aroma of sweat, earth, gun oil, and a spicy tang of arousal that said he wasn’t the only one reacting to their position. Chris’s scent was so masculine and erotic that Peter couldn’t help the way his eyelids dropped.

Chris’s eyes followed Peter’s tongue as he wet his lips and he tightened his hold on the wrists under his hand, earning an almost too-quiet groan. “Something up, Hale?” he asked in a low, teasing grumble. Peter glowered and he grinned, leaning closer until his lips brushed Peter’s ear. “You got suddenly very _tense_ ,” he breathed, lips teasing the ridge of his ears in a way that was absolutely the most seductive thing Peter could remember happening to him. 

Peter whimpered and let his head hang back and do the side as those sinful lips skated down his throat in a barely-there brush. Peter tried not to make a sound, but when the thumb on his left wrist shifted and _gently caressed the pulse point of his wrist_ , Peter shivered. He whimpered in frustration, arousal compromising his ability to stay silent. “ _Christopher_.”

Chris let out a soft groan and Peter had no time to contemplate the sound before his right arm was released and a hand in his hair snatched his head up just as lips crushed against his. He made a hungry sound and wasted no time kissing back, hard, fast, painful even, biting into Chris’s mouth with just as much force. Within seconds, Peter had surged forward, stumbling across the kitchen – not without taking a few chairs out on their way – and slammed Chris against the wall outside his bedroom. Hands gripped tightly at his jacket and he was whirled around, his back slamming into his bedroom door with enough force that that doorknob against his spine made him break the kiss and cry out in pain. Chris didn’t miss a beat, mouth going immediately to Peter’s throat. Peter fumbled with the doorknob behind him as hands ripped at his clothes, yanking his jacket halfway off his body. 

When the door gave way behind him, springing open with force under their combined weight, Peter and Chris’s combined gracefulness was all that kept them from hitting the floor in a pile. Instead, they stumbled just far enough for them to break contact long enough to shove at each other’s jackets, tear at each other’s belts and jeans, and shove things off of each other. Peter wrestled out of his tight jeans and stood tall just in time to have Argent grab at the collar of his V-neck tee-shirt and _rip it down the center_ before shoving the ruined garment backwards off his shoulders. “Oh fuck,” Peter gaped, brain short circuiting on the level of hot that was Chris _ripping his clothes off of him_. By the time his brain came back online, Argent had finally shoved his own pants off and, within two seconds, Peter was flat on his back in the middle of his bed with Chris on top of him. Chris’s hands skated down his chest, over his hips, and to his thighs, leaving trails of heat in their wake. “Urgh, nobody ever hears about this, okay?” Peter muttered between pants, head back as Chris’s mouth followed his hands.

Chris chuckled against his chest, nipping almost too hard at his nipple before pulling back. “Agreed,” he said, sliding further down. He didn’t give Peter time to respond before quickly taking Peter’s erection into his mouth for one teasing suck before moving on, earning a whine. 

“You bastard,” he whined, only to yelp, sucking in a breath in shock when Argent grabbed his thigh and flipped him over with no warning. “Good God, use your words, Chris, you usually like to talk- oh _God!_ ,” Peter cried out, reaching out to grab at the bars of his headboard. Chris hadn’t taken ten seconds to shove Peter’s legs apart and put his mouth on Peter’s ass. “Chris!” he all but whimpered, unable to stop the sounds coming out of his mouth as hands roughly gripped his ass and spread the cheeks, kneading the muscle almost, and a hot, wet mouth worked at his entrance. He whined, rocking back against the tongue pressing into him in teasing licks. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Peter groaned.

Chris pulled away suddenly and Peter whined at the loss. Chris chuckled, thumb teasingly sliding just beside his hole. “Still want me to use my words?” he asked and Peter whined, shifting his hips against the bed slightly.

“Shut up and use your mouth for something better,” Peter growled, throwing a glare over his shoulder. Chris just smirked and – without looking away from Peter’s eyes – let his teasing thumb slide to stroke over Peter’s entrance, making him shiver. Peter flushed and turned his head, earning an deep, amused chuckle before Chris thankfully returned to using his mouth for something besides speaking. 

By the time Argent had two fingers inside of Peter, licking around his fingers and even pressing his tongue in to accompany them, Peter was pretty sure Chris’s motive was to tease Peter until he actually died from need. Peter was pretty sure that, had Argent not pulled his hips up so that he wasn’t able to rock against the bed, he’d have already came just from Chris’s mouth on his ass. Peter was a shaking, sweaty mess by the time he gave in and gripped the pillow his face was pressed into before turning his head and gasping out, “Please, Chris, please fuck me!”

Argent chuckled – against his skin, making him whine pitifully – and drew back. “All you had to do was ask nicely,” he teased, and Peter growled.

“Argent, I swear to God- Ah!” Peter hadn’t expected Chris to move so fast, but it was only a second at most between Chris pulling away from him and Chris’s erection filling him in one fluid stroke. “Nnng!” Peter groaned, panting as Christ pressed flat against his back, every inch of him filling Peter. Peter’s mind was blank. He had no words with which to react. 

“Better?” Chris whispered hoarsely against his ear, eliciting only a weak whimper. He gave a few slow thrusts and Peter gasped at the feeling. It had been a _long_ time since he had been fucked and it was as overwhelming as it was sudden. “You have to tell me what you want,” Chris breathed against his ear, hand stroking his body from thighs to his sides to his chest, and up to the arms gripping the pillowcase. A shiver rolled down Peter’s spine when Chris kissed across his shoulders.

“Move,” Peter gasped out, and Chris slowly dragged his hands down his sides, still barely rocking into him. “Chris, move.”

“What’s that?” Chris asked in a teasing lilt as he shifted some, making a shiver run down Peter’s spine.

Peter growled and pushed up, fucking himself back on Chris’s cock, reaching over his shoulder to grab the back of Chris’s neck, turning to growl at him, eyes blue. “Fuck. Me.” He kissed Chris hard and fast and Chris didn’t miss a beat, gripping Peter’s hips as he fucked up into him, Peter practically sitting in his lap as he fucked him with the same tempo as he fucked into Peter’s mouth with his tongue. Peter shifted some, his knees spread as he was knocked back onto all fours, Chris pressing a hand on his lower back to move him where he wanted him, not even slowing down the way he fucked into his body. Peter panted, resting on his elbows, groaning with every good thrust. “Oh God,” he moaned as Chris’s pace grew harder and faster. He tried reaching his erection but the loss of balance made him fall over onto his chest a few times before Chris made an annoyed sound and snatched out of him. “Hey, wha-“

“Come here.” Peter was grabbed roughly by the leg and all but slammed onto his back. 

“Hey, what’re you- UH!” Chris shoved his thighs apart and slammed back into him roughly. Peter gritted his teeth and started to snap at Chris, only to have his breath hitch when Chris shifted and his thrusts started to _really_ hit home. “Oh. Oh God. Christopher!” Peter gasped, tossing his head back. He put a hand over him to brace himself as he thrust back against Chris, working with him to make _every_ thrust send sparks up his spine. “Yes, yes, oh _God_ yes!” he choked out.

“Touch yourself,” Chris grunted, intense eyes fixed on Peter’s as he held his thighs and fucked into him _hard_ and _perfect_ each time.

Peter didn’t need to be told twice, reaching down to stroke his erection, panting as every moment took him closer to release. “God, Christopher, you feel so good. Fuck me. Fuck me harder, please, it’s so good- Ah!” he panted, whimpering as he grew closer and closer.

Chris chuckled, eyes wild as he thrust into him with rough abandon. “God I should’ve known you’d be a talker,” he panted and Peter started to reply, but he was cut off with a loud, long string of curses as he came.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh fuck, Christopher, oh God.” His body relaxed slightly and he panted as he started to come down, chest and stomach covered in his own release. “Oh God, that’s- oh!” Argent snatched him closer, hands gripping his hips almost painfully hard as he chased his own orgasm. Peter grabbed onto his shoulders and clung tightly, whimpering in pleasure mixed with pain as every thrust hit his prostate, sending pleasure through his over-sensitive body so that it bordered on pain. “Christopher, fuck, it still feels so good. Come on, Christopher!”

Chris’s thrusts lost rhythm and he groaned hoarsely as he fucked into Peter so hard that Peter whined and gripped his shoulders hard, panting into Chris’s neck as he rode through Chris’s orgasm even as the thrusts sent just the right amount of pained pleasure up his spine with each vicious pressure in just the right spot. 

When Chris finally let him go, Peter fell back, arms flung to the sides and legs splayed as Chris crawled from between them, and lay there staring up at the ceiling. “Holy shit,” he grunted, blinking up at the ceiling.

Chris fell onto his side, panting and laughing softly. “I can’t believe we just did that,” he panted and Peter hummed, smirking as he stretched, arching his back in an almost feline manner. Chris winced slightly as he sat up, looking over his shoulder. “Were the claws really necessary?” he asked, feeling of his shoulder.

Peter glanced and saw thin, raised lines on Chris’s shoulder blades. “That was all human nails. If it was claws you’d be bleeding,” he added when he saw Chris’s raised eyebrow. He smirked, rolling onto his side. “Oh come on. Scratches down your back is usually a sign of how well you fuck. Don’t act like you’re not smug,” he said as he rolled over and slid out of bed. His legs were still wobbly as he crossed the room and grabbed clothes, snickering when he saw the eyes following him. 

“Clearly I’m not as good as I used to be if you’re able to walk already,” Chris joked and Peter laughed, glancing up through his eyelashes as he dug out a pair of pajamas.

“Werewolf stamina, sorry. Hard to really achieve true ‘fucked out and jelly legged’ if you’re not a werewolf and draw it out longer,” he said turning back to open another drawer and find a shirt. He heard a soft thump behind him and hesitated to see what Chris would do, only to tense when Chris stepped up behind him. 

Arms slid around Peter’s waist and a hand slid up his chest as Argent’s body pressed up against his. Peter’s eyes slipped shut as his still over-sensitive body tried to respond. “So, since you’re a young, strong werewolf,” Chris muttered against his ear, earning a shiver. “Does that mean if I climb in the shower with you, I can blow you?” he asked and Peter’s eyes snapped open, a whimper escaping his throat. Chris chuckled in a low voice, the tone curling through Peter’s insides in a pleasantly sensual way. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, pulling away from Peter suddenly. He slapped Peter’s ass as he passed, earning a sharp intake of breath. “Come on, share the hot water and I’ll make it worth your while.”

Peter nearly dropped his clothes in his haste to follow.

~

Peter groaned as he fell into bed and just lay there, face pressed into the pillow. He felt the bed dip beside him and Argent chuckled. “I take it I managed to wear you out?” he asked and Peter turned, nose and lips dragging across the pillow, only to glare half-heartedly at Chris.

“You are the most determined man I’ve ever slept with,” Peter muttered and Chris smirked across his bicep at him. “You’re horrible.” 

He grinned. “Not what you said ten minutes ago. And an hour ago. And an hour and a half ago. Or two hours ago-“

Peter flung out an arm and shoved at Chris’s face. “I’ve honestly never had four orgasms in two hours. I think I’m dehydrated. I’m way too old for this. I didn’t even have this much sex when I was young enough for this much sex. Also, how the _hell_ did you get off twice at your age? Seriously? You’re a _human_ ,” Peter grumbled. 

Chris laughed, shoving at Peter’s hand. “Honestly, I have no idea,” he admitted, running a hand over his head. “Do you know, it’s been… twenty-three years since I had sex with another man?” he said and Peter scoffed.

“I’d have killed myself by now,” he said, only to snicker. “Twenty-three years ago, I was seven years old.” Chris groaned.

“Oh God, I’m so old,” he complained and Peter chuckled.

“Yep. You really are,” he confirmed teasingly. “So what’s the story with that?” Peter asked. “Were you a confused teenager or just bisexual or what?”

Chris shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. “I had a couple boyfriends in high school, but then when I graduated and went to college, I met a girl who was ‘in the business’ like my family, and that was a big thing to have in common. We got married when I dropped out and got a job as a gun dealer to appease my father. Had a baby pretty quickly. And that was the life I had. I was happy with it. I wanted as far from my father as I could get. I couldn’t escape hunting, but I got away from him, and it was… good enough.”

Peter grinned dangerously at the ceiling. “I can only imagine how _Gerard_ handled his only son being with other boys.”

Chris hummed, eyes sliding shut. “He didn’t. Obviously he knew, everybody did, but it was the thing nobody talked about. If I was going out with someone, I was ‘hanging out with a friend’.” He shrugged. “It was the late eighties. Things weren’t quite the same. What about you?”

Peter smiled sadly as he looked over at the window, not wanting Argent to see his eyes. “I was an ‘uh oh’ baby, as you have probably guessed. My mother was in her forties when I was born, so my parents were _old_. And with that comes old fashioned.”

Chris turned to look at him. “I take it they didn’t approve.”

Peter scoffed. “Understatement.” He paused, hesitating before he finally spoke. “As you can imagine, werewolves know everything. There’s no hiding anything from your pack. It’s one of the reasons we sometimes are comfortable with nudity, there’s no sense of privacy really in a big pack.” Chris nodded in understanding. Peter sighed. “The first time I had sex, I came home and my parents knew I’d been with a boy. Their reaction was… not good,” Peter said softly. “It was eleven at night when I got home, and before midnight, they’d made me pack a bag and leave. Kicked me out in under an hour.”

Chris cursed. “Jesus, they _kicked you out_? Werewolves aren’t usually that… rejecting.”

Peter shrugged. “I was never very close with them. My brother and sister were together growing up, so my parents had already raised two children fully. When I was born, they were just as happy leaving me to do things on my own. They didn’t get involved with me very much. And I was always a disappointment because my brother had gone off to college and got a good job at some law firm on the east coast and Talia was building a strong, stable pack for us all. I was just this extra child they didn’t really want and didn’t want to make time for. So when I ended up being gay, too, they washed their hands of me.”

Chris nodded. “And that’s how you ended up with your sister? You mentioned you moved in with her.”

Peter smiled sadly. “My sister loved me,” he said in a warm, yet sad tone, surprising Chris. Peter glanced over. “To understand, you have to know the whole story.”

Chris shrugged. “I’m not busy,” he said and Peter chuckled, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

“Alright. Well,” Peter started, “It all really began when I was six,” he said softly. “Talia was twenty-two when I was born, got married when I was two, and had Laura when I was four. Unlike my brother, Michael, I saw Talia all the time,” he explained. “I had a grand total of about ten conversations with Michael my whole life, probably, because he didn’t live here. He was eighteen when I was born and was already gone, and he didn’t come home much. He would call my parents and they would talk to him and then relay that he said ‘hey’ to me. He’d talk to Talia for hours, since she was older and was an adult like him, but I barely knew him even when he came to visit and died in the fire,” he explained. “But Talia lived in the preserve so we’d spend full moons with her family. I saw her and the kids and her husband all the time. I’d go see her after school and hang out with the other kids. I’d go over on the weekends to do family things with her, and it bothered me sometimes that she treated me like one of the children when I was her brother, but most of all I loved her because she paid attention to me,” he said softly. “She was my big sister, no matter what.”

“She sounds like she was an amazing person,” Chris offered solemnly and Peter hummed his assent.

“When I was six, a bunch of alphas came to Beacon Hills to meet with my father. Talia was his second so she was at the house. The met at our parents’ house –where I lived at the time- instead of in the forest in hopes that town was neutral ground.” Peter chuckled dryly. “I was always nosey and I wanted to know what was going on. An alpha started to get violent and when my father threatened him, he decided to strike back by pulling me from the hallway where everyone knew I was hiding but ignored me, and he was threatening to kill me to make his point.”

Chris snorted, shaking his head. “Werewolves.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Hunters aren’t much better sometimes, Christopher, look at your father,” he said and Chris shrugged his acknowledgement. “Anyways, my father tried to talk to him, but Talia loved me more than he did, so she didn’t bother. She attacked right then and there. Killed the alpha who was trying to hurt me. And that’s how she became an alpha. Protecting me.”

Chris looked at him. “None of us ever knew that. We assumed she was just the alpha through succession.”

“She became an alpha because someone was threatening an innocent child and she was brave and did what she had to to ensure my safety. Obviously, I hero-worshipped her,” Peter said with a small smile. His smile melted after a moment though. “When my parents kicked me out, I ran the whole way to Talia’s house. It was in the middle of the night, but before I could knock on the door, it was opening and Talia was standing there in her nightgown and she took one look at me, this skinny seventeen year old who was crying and shivering, and she pulled me inside and I could feel it. When she hugged me, I felt the shift. Before, even if she’d been an alpha, my father was still _my_ alpha. But in that moment she became my alpha. I moved into the guest bedroom and that was that.” Peter sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I never deserved anything she did for me. I never deserved her loving me. I was so ungrateful and I knew how to manipulate them all. And now look at me?” He gave a hollow laugh. “I’m a thirty year-old who is practically an omega. I killed my niece and failed to save the other one. What would Talia think of me now?” he mumbled with a sad smile as he gazed into the air. 

“She’d still love you,” Chris said in a slightly rough tone. He shrugged, arms crossed behind his head when Peter looked at him. “No matter what they do, you still love your family.” Peter’s lip curled when he realized what Chris meant and Chris shook his head. “Think what you want, but it’s true. My sister… my sister was horrible. She did horrible things. She was a horrible person. She was sick and disgusting. She was a terrible human being, and she got what she had coming to her. I was prepared to put her down myself if I had to,” he admitted, earning a surprised glance. “But Katie was still my baby sister,” he said sadly. “She was a murderer. She was horrific and disgusting in so many ways, but I’ll always love her because at one point, she was this tiny little girl with an innocent smile that looked up at me when I would check in on her crib when I came home from training with my father,” he whispered. “Trust me. Talia might not like what became of you, but you’d always be her brother.”

Peter didn’t know how to respond, and apparently neither did Chris, if the silence shared for a long moment was anything to go by. After a while, Peter suddenly rolled onto his belly, raising on his elbows to look down at Chris. “Why do you want to kill Stiles?” he asked bluntly. “I don’t understand how that fits in with this ‘better than my father’ thing you’ve got going on.”

Chris smirked. “I never said I wanted to kill him-“

“You said you would though-“

Chris interrupted. “And I would, if I had to. However, I never actually said I had plans to,” he said and Peter narrowed his eyes. “You’re not the only one good at manipulation,” Chris drawled and Peter smirked, eyes a shade darker.

“Why Christopher, you devious man, you! I’m actually impressed,” he said appraisingly. “Why though? And how?”

Chris rested his head against his bicep. “The how is easy. You learn as a hunter how to lie where werewolves won’t catch it. It’s in the wording. You say things that are true but with the implication that you mean something else. I said ‘I don’t want to kill Stiles, but I will if I have to’, and that’s true. But I left it up to them to guess what I meant by ‘if I have to’.”

Peter nodded. “And the why?” he prompted.

“You said it first: they need Stiles,” Chris started. “He is the anchor keeping that pack together, so to speak. However, they all underestimate him. That’s how he stabbed Derek. They all underestimate him as a danger. However, now they all think he’s _in_ danger, so they’re going to watch him like a hawk.” He chuckled. “Your nephew’s horribly ill-placed crush may very well save their lives now. He wasn’t afraid of Stiles hurting him, even though Stiles did, but he’s suspicious I’ll hurt Stiles now, so he’s going to pay so much better attention and that carelessness won’t happen again.”

Peter laughed. “Damn, Argent, you’re actually a master of manipulation. If I hadn’t already done so, I’d totally offer you my body right now, that’s how impressive that is,” he teased and Chris rolled his eyes, groaning.

“Oh God, you’re horrible.”

“And you’re amusing,” Peter countered before rolling over to turn off the lamp, sprawling across the bed with a contented sigh after. “If you’re staying, you better not kick or flail in your sleep or I’ll kill you and go right back to bed with your dead body next to me,” he warned and Chris snorted.

“I’ll keep that in mind, you freak.”

“You’re the one that didn’t mind when you were freaking the freak-“

“Go to sleep, Peter-“

“Go fuck yourself, Argent,” Peter muttered calmly, closing his eyes.

“I’m good, I already fucked you,” Chris murmured tiredly from the opposite side of the bed.

Peter tried not to smile, but it was hard to ignore how amusing Chris could be when he tried.

~

Peter was more than amused to see Stiles with one of the twins and a much older man with bleached hair walking around the women’s dresses at work when he got on shift. He continued his task of straightening clothing racks and hangers as he listened in.

“Oooh, what about the purple?” the blonde man said, holding a dress up in front of himself as he posed for Stiles.

Stiles tilted his head. “It’s kinda…” he trailed off and Twin Whatever spoke up.

“Slutty?”

Stiles glared. “I was going to say ‘revealing’,” he chastised. 

The blonde man smirked. “Well yeah, what else would I spend this much money on? I need a nice, ‘revealing’ dress for the base of my newest costume!” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Stiles. “If only my Little Red would join in…” he trailed off and Stiles snorted.

“I told you, Phoenix, it ain’t happening. I’d look horrible in drag,” he said, much to Peter’s amusement. Peter let Phoenix – as Stiles called him – drone on as he briefly stopped to imagine Stiles in drag. It was _hilarious_. He turned back in just as Stiles said, “You go try those on and we’ll wait here.”

Peter took the apparent drag queen’s temporary departure as an opportunity to go harass his favorite teenager and wandered over, casually leaning against a clothing rack beside them. “So, what are you two doing shopping in the women’s section?” he asked, startling Stiles, which made the twin laugh. 

“Jesus!” Stiles clutched his chest, then glared. “Thanks for the warning, Ethan.”

Peter hummed. “Oh so you’re that one. I never can tell,” he said and Ethan rolled his eyes. “Who’s your friend?” he asked, nodding at the dressing rooms.

Stiles glanced then turned back. “Who, Phoenix? Oh long story, but I kind of have a group of drag queen friends.” Peter raised an eyebrow and Stiles shrugged. “Really long story. It involves the Kanima.”

Peter hummed. “Interesting.” He glanced at Ethan. “Any you’re his watcher today?”

Stiles smiled. “Hey, it works out!”

Ethan nodded. “There’s only three queer guys in our grade.”

“Sadly, I couldn’t invite the other one,” Stiles said. “Partially because he’d have zero interest in shopping, but mostly because that would be super awkward since the other two-thirds of the queer population of our grade apart from me used to date,” he said matter-of-factly.

Peter snickered. “High school drama, that must be really refreshing for you two,” he said and Stiles nodded but Ethan huffed, actually pouting.

“No, because boys suck,” he said and Stiles shot him a look.

“You _killed_ two of his classmates. And even if he doesn’t know that, you disappeared for like two weeks without any word. So you’re a murderer who disappeared. I think Danny’s way better off without you,” Stiles said bluntly.

Ethan gave a guilty glance down. “I know what we did was horrible, but we didn’t have a choice. You know we’ve been _trying_ to make up for what we did-“

Stiles cut him off. “ _You_ are trying to make up for killing our pack mates. Your brother just wants a free pass,” he said and Ethan sighed.

“I know, but he just doesn’t feel guilty like I do,” he said and Peter chuckled in amusement.

“Not helping your case, my boy,” he said and Ethan glared.

“I mean that, even if he knows it was wrong, he looks at it as ‘what we had to do’ so that Kali didn’t hurt us instead. He sees it as ‘bad shit happens’, not ‘we have to earn forgiveness for our actions’.” He bit his lip. “Aiden just gets into this ‘if I don’t take responsibility, I don’t have to live with what we’ve done’ head space.”

Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes. “Ethan, even if you’re sorry for what you did, even if you want to be good, it doesn’t change that Danny’s safer away from you.” He paused then waved a hand. “Or that you were gone for two weeks without any word.”

Ethan huffed. “Yeah, two _weeks_. He couldn’t even wait two weeks before moving on to the next guy?!”

Peter hummed. “Maybe thought you died? Teenagers seem to disappear quite often in this town,” he said and Ethan glared.

“Oh yeah, that’s so much better, how best to mourn the death of the boy I’m dating than move on right away!” Ethan pouted again. “And with his stupid ex. That bastard wasn’t worth the dirt on the bottom of Danny’s shoes.”

Stiles snickered. “Dude, come on. You dated like three weeks. You weren’t even really ‘boyfriends’, were you? Also, if you didn’t notice, Danny’s really hot and very popular. His ex is really hot and sort of popular. He doesn’t have to like him to mess around with him. That’s what hot people do, they fool around with other hot people. You should know this, you and your brother were doing the same thing.” He paused. “Actually I don’t even see why you care that much. You surely have a fake ID, go find another guy-“

“Cause it wasn’t like that!” Ethan defended with sad eyes. Peter watched in amusement as one of the ‘murder twins’, as Derek called them, proved himself to be far less terrifying than the others had sold them to him. “Yeah, maybe I was supposed to flirt with him to distract him, and yeah, Aiden took that as ‘have tons of sex because you can’, but it wasn’t like that! Danny is _sweet_ and _nice_ and I thought he _liked_ me. It just annoys me that he got over me so damn fast when I thought we were _boyfriends_ and apparently I was just another ‘date’ to him.”

Stiles snickered. “Dude, you’re making this way more dramatic than it has to be. You fucked around for three weeks or so, how many feelings could there be-“

“I do have feelings, you know?!” Ethan whined, and then crossed his arms. “It wasn’t like that, Stiles. Yes, I was assigned to distract him, but like…” He blushed some. “There were _feelings_.” Stiles gave him an ‘oh really’ look and Ethan looked down, ears pink. “Aiden and Lydia may have just been tons of sex, but with Danny there was… hand holding. And kisses. And making out without sex,” he said, looking awkward and uncomfortable. “And doing our homework together, and watching Netflix cuddling on the couch. I _like_ him,” he stressed. He looked away. “And, you know, I’d never had sex before, so there’s that-“

Peter raised an amused eyebrow and Stiles gaped. “Whoa, whoa, whoa… dude, _Danny_ was your first time?!” he whispered in a rush and Ethan made a face.

“I didn’t tell him that, but yeah.” He winced slightly, pushing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he added, in a muffled mutter, “Well, the first time that I wanted it.”

Peter’s smirk slid off his face and he saw the moment Stiles realized what Ethan had said. What had been an amusing moment of teasing for Peter slipped into something cold and dark and _anger_ inducing. Peter heard the flutter in Ethan’s heartbeat and knew in an instant what he meant. Instead of anger, however, Peter could sense an incredible sadness coming over Stiles. Stiles opened and closed his mouth a few times before taking a weak breath. “Ethan… do- do you mean… what I think you mean?” he asked, looking absolutely horrified, his face bloodless.

Ethan fidgeted uncomfortably. “I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-“

“Uncomfortable?!” Stiles hissed, outrage crossing his features. “I feel _sick_ if you’re implying what I think you’re implying.”

Ethan ducked his head. “Sorry. I know, how could someone so weak have ever been an alpha-“

“I think,” Peter interrupted, honestly not sure he’d be able to hold back his deep, dark, ugly rage if Ethan finished that sentence. “That Stiles isn’t talking about you, Ethan, but whoever hurt you.”

Ethan frowned. “Why? I know it’s an uncomfortable topic. I don’t mention it. I’ve only really told Deucalion ever before. I figured it’s probably better to not talk about it in case Derek or Scott think it makes me too weak when we’re trying to get into the pack-“

“Oh my God, _Ethan_!” Stiles whispered, eyes shimmering. “Oh my God you think Scott would think you’re weak because someone- someone _hurt_ you?!”

Ethan shrugged. “If Aiden and I had been stronger they couldn’t have hurt me. They didn’t hurt Aiden. They said hurting one of us was worse than both of us, and I was the one that had figured out I liked boys at like eleven, so they thought I was disgusting already.”

Stile blinked hard. “Ethan, how old were you?! I thought you’d been with Deucalion-“

“We only got in with Deucalion when we were fifteen,” Ethan said. “No, dude, by then I was big enough me and Aiden could fight back when Deucalion encouraged us. This was when I was like thirteen and fourteen. I swear we’re totally not weak like that anymore, though,” Ethan added quickly, looking between them. “So no like, getting it back to Scott that we’re too weak to be his betas.”

Peter really wanted to go punch something, but Stiles simply whimpered and then, seemingly to Ethan’s shock, threw his arms around Ethan, pulling him into a hug right there. Peter saw their friend returning and used the moment’s distraction to make his escape. He decided to go see if they needed anybody to shred boxes in the back, because he had never needed a moment of cathartic release at work more than now.

~

Peter was sitting on the couch sipping a glass of wine when Argent came in. Peter didn’t glanced up from looking down at Loki before speaking. “I’m surprised Allison took you out. She’s the one so intent on protecting you by hiding you with me.”

Chris chuckled and Peter glanced up to see him eying Peter as he walked over and sat on the couch with a cushion between them. “You look like an advertisement for ‘evil masterminds’ right now. Wine in one hand, petting a sincerely evil looking cat with the other.” He leaned back and Peter glowered slightly at the claim about Loki. Chris smiled. “Oh come on, I know you’re the better villain of the two of you.”

Peter hummed, smiling ruefully as he sipped his wine. “The thing about villains, Christopher, is that identifying them relies entirely on point-of-view.”

Chris raised an eyebrow, but settled back, looking at Peter. “What are you even doing?” he asked, glancing around for a book or something else.

“Thinking and relaxing after a long, hard day at work,” Peter said, raising his glass to Chris.

“Werewolves can’t feel the effects of alcohol. That wine is far from going to help you relax,” Chris pointed out and Peter huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Well maybe I like to pretend, Christopher,” he muttered. He leaned back. “What else do you want? I’m thinking here.”

Chris nodded. “About what? What was that about villains?”

Peter glanced at him. “Just that whether or not someone is a villain depends entirely on who you ask, doesn’t it?”

Chris snorted. “I wouldn’t say _entirely_.”

Peter gave him a narrowed look and hummed. “I guess you wouldn’t,” he said, sipping his wine.

“What brought about this philosophical thinking?” Chris asked curiously. “Something happened today, huh?”

Peter looked down at Loki, stroking her head. “I’m not sure you’re the best to talk about it with,” he said and Chris sighed.

“Gerard or Kate?” he asked and Peter snorted.

“Both, actually. I’ve been thinking all day,” he replied and glanced up. “I’m trying to not be as much of an asshole as I could about your late relatives. So don’t ask.”

Chris leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “Look. I have no misgivings about what my family was involved in. I think I’m too curious to not ask,” he said, sounding a bit stressed.

Peter chuckled bitterly, then reached down beside the couch and came back with the wine bottle, holding it across the gap. “You’re gonna need this,” he said and Chris snorted, but took the wine, drinking straight from the bottle.

Chris made a face. “That’s disgusting,” he said, but he sipped some more. “Alright, the curiosity is killing me. What happened to make you think about Gerard and Kate?”

Peter hesitated, looking over at Chris as he floundered on whether or not he should even speak up about something not his business. However, he knew Chris was nothing if not private. “You’re aware of how your sister got close enough to burn down my house, right?”

Chris winced and took a drink of wine. “Going right for the pressure points,” he muttered. “Yes, I’m aware that she was dating Derek,” he said and Peter nodded.

“And do you remember how?”

Chris hesitated, frowning. “I… don’t see how the ‘how they met’ matters.”

“Wrong, that’s the main problem.” Peter turned to face him, soothing Loki with a stroke when she glared at him after being jostled. “Do you know how old Derek is?” Chris shook his head and Peter’s mouth settled into a grim line. “Derek was barely sixteen and she was a substitute teacher at the high school.”

Chris looked deeply uncomfortable suddenly. “As if I didn’t have enough to feel guilty about leaving her on her own for,” he muttered, looking unseeingly into the distance. “Shit.” He looked over. “What on earth made you think about that today?”

Peter cringed, sipping from his glass to delay the moment. “That’s where Gerard comes in,” he said and Chris looked reluctantly curious. “The whole thing the Darach and the Alphas? That was directly Gerard Argent’s fault from years ago,” he said and Chris raised an eyebrow. “Deucalion and various other alphas sought my sister’s help on what to do about Argent hunters. Deucalion wanted to strike up a peace treaty. My sister advised him against it, but he went ahead, seeking _peace_.”

Chris’s scowl grew bitter. “Let me guess. My father’s claims that Deucalion and his wolves attacked wasn’t truth?”

Peter nodded. “You’re realizing things, huh?”

Chris sighed. “I was suspicious. That story didn’t make sense to me. I can fully believe that my father started that fight. And then Deucalion built the alpha pack. Because he did that.” He shook his head, groaning. “Oh Gerard.” He looked over. “How did Deucalion come up? One of the twins?”

Peter fought a growl, fisting a hand against the couch cushion. “Deucalion was once a good man. Then being blinded and being betrayed made him start to go mad. Building the alpha pack, he took in Kali and Ennis, who were already alphas that were here at that time. But I always did wonder where the twins came from. I’ve heard them talk about being ‘pack omegas’. Not real omegas, like your hunters take out, but like in a wolf pack. The lowest ones.”

Chris frowned. “But they’re just children.”

“Apparently, they were abused,” Peter said softly. “Not just… physically.” Chris tensed and Peter looked down at Loki. “Today Ethan accidentally let it slip to Stiles that when he was around thirteen and fourteen, he was being sexually abused. When they were fifteen, Deucalion helped them kill their entire pack to become alphas.” He looked up. “Ethan is guilty for what all he has done here. But Aiden refuses to be. And I honestly can see why he isn’t sorry,” he said weakly. “If his brother was being raped-“ He shook his head. “If they were being abused in so many ways, then some powerful alpha coming out of nowhere and helping them save themselves… Deucalion wasn’t a villain in that moment. He was their hero.”

Chris looked just as uncomfortable as Peter felt. “He and the ones in his pack still killed a lot of people. Including Derek’s betas,” he reminded Peter, who nodded.

“He and his pack killed and he even killed one of them, I’m told. But in the end, Derek and Scott let him go,” he said and Chris’s jaw clenched. “They let him go and he paid off in spades. He sent someone to save me and Derek,” he admitted and Chris looked up. “When Cora got killed, we were captured by a rival group of hunters from the ones who killed Cora. Apparently she’d pissed off a lot of people and they were all after her. The point is, Deucalion sent a mercenary to save us. Well…” he chuckled. “To save Derek. He didn’t even know me. But once again. Deucalion was our ‘hero’.”

Chris hummed. “It’s difficult,” he said softly. “There are some who are just plain horrible. My sister… she was pretty much just horrible. She was bloodthirsty without any real remorse. I know that. It hurts to think about it, but… it’s just true,” he said sadly. “I like to think I could’ve changed that if I’d been around more, but that only makes it worse.” He downed another mouthful of wine. “But with Deucalion… clearly he had a broken sense of revenge. He was insane after what he had suffered. His insanity was fed by the blood thirst of Kali and Ennis. And together, they both saved and warped those kids.”

Peter smirked. “I do know the feeling. It felt so good to kill the Darach. She may have survived Deucalion, but I made sure she stays down.”

Chris looked over, surprised. “Wait, _you_ killed her? Where did the body go?”

Peter turned a predatory grin his way. “Wouldn’t you like to know-“

“Hale-“

“Oh fine.” Peter sighed. “I burned it, happy?” he asked and Chris cringed. “What? Best way to keep her dead this time.”

Chris eyed him suspiciously. “Why did you care? It didn’t concern you.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “She almost killed Cora. I sat in the hospital with Cora hoping beyond all hope she would get better. Derek did the same. Also,” he added, grimacing. “If what your sister did to Derek was wrong, what I found out she did to Derek was beyond fucked up. Your sister used his youth and her looks to take advantage of him. She used magic.” He huffed. “Besides, if we’re talking villains, she killed _twelve_ people. Tried to kill fifteen. I think I’m justified,” he defended.

Chris snorted. “Oh I’m not complaining. She tried to kill _me_ remember?”

Peter sighed. “I don’t know.” He leaned his head back on the back of the couch. “I’m just… torn. There’s so many things that make it hard to decide who is and isn’t the ‘bad guys’. Nothing is black and white, and that works to my advantage since I’m still alive after all, but…” He looked down at Loki. “It’s just another thing that makes me want to just not have to deal with everything.” He smiled sadly, stroking Loki’s ear until she twitched it. “I’m _tired_. Of life in general. I want to be left alone again. I don’t like having to think about ‘what if’s and ‘if this hadn’t happened’s.” He slumped slightly. “I’m over all this dramatic ‘life or death’ stuff.”

Chris scoffed. “You’re tired of it? You’re thirty years old.”

“And I feel like I’m sixty,” Peter added softly. “I just feel… weathered. Like I’ve lived too much and it’s time for it to be over soon. But it’s not. And I don’t want to kill myself to end it. I _want_ it over. I just can’t end it myself.”

Chris shook his head. “Peter… you’re young enough you can start over. You still have a long life ahead of you. You could start now and by the time you’re my age, everything could be different. It could be what you want it to be.”

Peter let his head fall back. “I know. But I don’t feel like I deserve it,” he admitted. “I’m supposed to be dead. I was dead. Eight months ago, I was _dead_.” He was silent for a moment before standing up. He lowered Loki to the couch and turned to head for his bedroom. He hesitated at the doorway and muttered, without looking back, “This isn’t any kind of life.”

Peter didn’t look back for a reaction, but he left the bedroom door open. Just in case. 

~

Peter looked up from Loki in his lap and raised an eyebrow when Argent came out of the bathroom, his hair still damp from the shower. “Do you have some aversion of buttoning your shirt?” he asked, looking at the undone buttons Chris was sporting.

Chris raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Like you’ve got any room to be talking, Mr. Deep V,” he said, gesturing to Peter’s shirt.

Peter looked down and shrugged. “My tee-shirt was made to do that. Your shirt has buttons that are meant to be buttoned.”

Chris smirked, walking over with a clear intent in his eyes. “And you’re complaining?” He leaned in, bracketing Peter with his hands on either arm of Peter’s chair. “You seem so bothered,” he whispered in a low, husky voice that made Peter’s heart pound slightly. Chris leaned in, pausing just inches from Peter’s lips. “You know you like a little chest hair showing,” he breathed and Peter shivered, eyes almost crossed as he looked into Chris’s eyes from that close.

“Pretty sure that’s cheating,” Peter muttered and Chris smirked.

“No, but this is,” he whispered. His eyes never left Peter’s as one hand slid from the arm of the chair to Peter’s hip, slipping under the hem of his shirt to tease at his skin. “Or maybe this,” he added, hand sliding upwards slowly. Peter moaned softly and arched up into the touch. He started to close the gap between their mouths…

Only to be interrupted by his phone ringing.

Chris pulled away and Peter growled. “Ignore it-“

Chris’s phone started ringing too. Chris sighed and Peter groaned, flopping back against the seat. Chris pulled his hand from Peter’s shirt and turned to go grab his phone, tossing Peter’s over his shoulder, trusting Peter’s werewolf reactions to make it easily caught. “Allison?” Chris asked as an answer. 

Peter frowned at the screen before answering. “What’s wrong?” he asked automatically.

“Peter! Peter something’s wrong!” Derek barked out. “Stiles disappeared from school. Just disappeared. He was just going to the bathroom, Ethan said, and both twins watched him go in, but when he didn’t come out and they followed him inside, he was _gone_.”

Peter looked up at Chris sharply and Chris was pacing. “Allison, Sweetheart, breathe. I’m sure Lydia is okay. Maybe she just didn’t feel well and went home-“

Peter stalked over, grabbing Chris’s elbow to catch his attention. “Stiles disappeared from a one-entrance bathroom. Lydia may have been taken, too.”

Chris paled. “Allison, I’m coming to the school. Meet me in the parking lot,” he said succinctly, hanging up quickly. “Is Derek-“

“Already there,” Peter said, going to grab his shoes and a jacket. “Honestly, as often as Derek’s at that school without incident, it’s clear there’s nobody guarding the safety of that high school. We both have just waltzed in in the middle of the school day before.”

Chris grumbled. “If a psycho with a gun goes in and starts shooting kids at my child’s school, I’ll have some serious words with people.” He went behind the couch and picked up his bag of weapons. “And by ‘words’, I mostly mean there will be blood,” he said and Peter smirked.

“You’re so sexy when you’re violent,” he teased as he grabbed his car keys and headed out the door.

~

When Peter and Chris got to the school, Derek was in the parking lot with the kids. It didn’t look like anybody at all was watching them, which made Peter roll his eyes, so they pulled up right beside Derek’s frankly horribly and terribly inconvenient SUV. When they climbed out, Peter heard them all arguing far too quickly for him to decipher as he and Chris approached. They were both surprised when, in the middle of it all, there was a human neither of them were familiar with.

And only one twin.

“Crap,” Peter breathed and Chris glanced over.

Scott finally spoke up, quieting them all down. “Look, just stop for a second!” He turned to Chris and Peter. “Mr. Argent, Ethan’s gone too, and this time we _saw_ the Tengu get him.”

Allison turned, biting her nails. “Dad, Danny saw them. He was looking for Coach Finstock and when he came around the corner, he says he saw these scary guys in costumes surrounding Ethan. He started to just leave, since he didn’t want to talk to Ethan, but then they _turned into smoke_ and-“

The human – Peter guessed this was the mysterious ‘Danny’ everybody talked about often – shoved forward, eyes wide and terrified. “The smoke swirled around Ethan and both the smoke and Ethan _disappeared into thin air_!” His voice cracked and he shook his head. “I knew some weird shit was going on, but there’s werewolves and then there’s _ninjas turning into smoke and apparating my ex!_!”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Harry Potter? Really?” Nearly every head turned his way and he rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, I could actually read when the first book came out, how many of you could?”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Look, Kira is still in class, so they didn’t take her. We thought she was one of the targets too, but instead they went for Ethan.”

Chris shook his head. “Tengu shouldn’t have any desire to get a werewolf. They want me for breaking my pact with them, and they might want Stiles because he’s got magic in him, and Lydia because she’s a banshee.”

“Ethan was looking for any sign of where Stiles went,” Aiden spoke up. “What if he found them and they took him to keep him quiet?!” He looked more than a little panicked. “What will they do?! If they don’t need a werewolf, will they let him go?”

Chris grimaced. “Maybe. Or they’ll just kill him.”

Peter glared at him when Aiden visibly shrunk in on himself. “Great job, scare the kid to death-“

“It’s better to be scared and know the score than to have it sugar coated,” Allison said and Peter rolled his eyes.

“You really are your father’s child,” he said, then turned to Derek. “Look, we have to get Stiles back. Yes, Ms. Martin and Twin Two are your friends, yada yada-“ He ignored the unimpressed to downright horrified looks he was receiving. “But Stiles with magic being controlled by the Tengu who are hellbent on revenge? That spells horrifying deaths for all of us.”

Danny raised a hand. “For the record, I’m not involved-“

“You saw them in action,” Peter argued. “They know you know about them. They’ll tie up loose ends if need be.” He made a face. “Also one is your friend, one is your teammate if not your friend as well, and you _dated_ one of them. I’m a selfish bastard and even I would feel at least SOME compulsion to try and save them.”

Scott gave Danny a sad look. “They’re your friends, Danny.”

Aiden knocked into his shoulder roughly as he walked past, going over to stand with Scott. “Yeah, and you already broke my brother’s heart. The least you can do is not back out on helping us save him.”

Scott shrugged at the offended look on Danny’s face. “Hey, Ethan did save your life that time, when you nearly died and he got you to the hospital in time for my mom to save you,” he said and Danny grumbled.

“You all suck. If I die, I’m going to haunt every one of you.” He glanced over at Peter. “Especially the creepy badtouch uncle looking dude over there.”

Derek rolled his eyes dramatically. “I. Hate. Teenagers,” he grumbled, then turned to face them all. “Look. Danny-“

“So I’m guessing you’re not really Stiles’s cousin Miguel, right?” he asked and everybody looked confused except for Derek, who looked murderous. Peter was definitely getting that story later.

“I will murder you slowly,” Derek threatened and Danny paled, eyes widening. “Look, you just had all this dumped on you, so what you’re going to do is go back to class and watch Kira. Make sure nothing happens to her. Tell her what’s going on and get her to invite you home with her to study. Her dad will buy it. Call Scott if something happens.”

Chris looked over at Derek. “You sure this is the best idea?”

Derek shrugged. “He found out and we have to keep an eye on Kira, so why not? We need everybody else. Five werewolves and two hunters isn’t much going by what we’ve seen of the Tengu.”

Scott nodded. “Seriously. We were talking about this. Obviously, between the seven of us, we have three people to find. That’s not a lot.” He looked at Derek, who nodded. “Okay, so I had an idea and Derek agreed.” He looked at Aiden. “Each one of us has a different priority for who is missing. It’s just a fact. You wouldn’t give a damn if Stiles and Lydia both died as long as you can get your brother.” Aiden gave a guilty nod. “So, we’re going to split up by who matters most to who. That way we can focus better and find people faster. It sounds bad, but it’s just being realistic.” He looked at Allison. “You and Isaac will go after Lydia.” He looked at Chris. “You and Aiden go find Ethan. I know you don’t know him, but he’s a kid and you’re a good guy,” he said and Chris nodded.

Scott looked at Peter and Derek. “And we’ll find Stiles, because I’m not as stupid as you both seem to think, so I know he’s totally the Hale favorite,” he said and Peter smirked at the way Derek’s ears turned pink. “Mr. Argent… we’re going to need a crash course in Tengu, and fast.”

Chris nodded. “Danny, go back to class. The rest of you, follow us to my apartment,” he said, then turned to Peter, nodding at the car. Peter grabbed his keys and went to the driver’s side without argument.

~

Derek was the first to speak. “So you actually studied to be a _ninja_?”

Peter glanced over at Chris and bit back a smirk when he met his eyes. Chris ignored him studiously. “Yes, I did. When I was a teenager.” He pushed the open box across the desk. “This mask is a Hannya. It’s from the Tengu I trained with. It was a gift. And then when I refused to continue worshipping them, they broke it. It was a symbol that I was no longer with them, and therefore, I knew too much. However, I fled back to my father and I haven’t thought about it since.” He sighed. “At least not until they came here, looking for me.” He looked at Allison. “The Nemeton got a taste of you and me both, worked out who I was, and it knew I was here. The Nemeton is a Cryptomeria. It’s a tree that the Tengu spirits protect. So basically, the Nemeton discovered me. I went to take a look, to be sure it was a Cryptomeria, and I think I kick started the Tengu revenge,” he admitted.

Aiden raised a hand. “Can we get back to the part where Allison’s Dad is a _ninja_?!” he asked, looking around, only to frown when everybody just stared at him. “What?! That’s seriously not something you hear every day!”

“Moving on,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “Where would they have the others? And why?”

Chris sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know the why. It’s _possible_ that, sensing that Stiles is losing control, they want to teach him to harness his strengths. Tengu are known for teaching the weak to fight.”

Scott tensed. “What if Lydia and Ethan are supposed to be targets for him to train on?” he asked, and Chris paled.

“It’s… possible. They’re supernatural, so they may think they’ll survive his training,” he agreed.

Allison shook her head. “But why would they train Stiles? What would they hope to get?”

“Sleeper agent.” Everybody looked over at Peter, who lifted his head. “If they train Stiles to be a samurai or whatever, then send him back, he could easily get close to Chris and take him out without them having to keep searching for him.”

Scott looked to Chris. “If we find them, how do we defeat the Tengu?” he asked uneasily.

Chris looked around the room and winced. “Nobody take this the wrong way… but I don’t think you can.” He looked at Scott. “You need Stiles. Lydia might can do it, but Stiles is clever, whereas she’s book smart.”

Scott frowned. “Why does that matter? We need claws, not brains-“

“No, you need someone who is good at riddles,” Chris said. “The Tengu will either kill you, or let you talk them into a game of riddles. Stiles is the only one of you clever enough to beat them, I’m pretty sure. I can because I know their riddles, but you need somebody quick-witted.” He smiled sadly. “I’ve never seen anybody who would handle that better than Stiles, unless it was his father.”

Scott nodded, biting his lip. “So we have to find Stiles, rescue him, and hope he’s able to out-riddle them? How does that work?”

“You challenge them,” Chris said simply. “Tell them ‘if I win, you let my friends go’, then beat them. Or, in my case, ‘I live if I beat you’.”

“But what if Stiles can’t do it?” Isaac asked from Derek’s side.

Derek looked at him and shook his head. “He can do it. Stiles could talk his way into an all-girls, school. If there’s one thing Stiles is good at, it’s tricking people with words.”

Peter smirked. “You’d know all about Stiles tricking people with words-“

“Not the time,” Chris said and Peter rolled his eyes.

“You’re no fun.” 

Scott looked at the window and Peter followed his eyes. The sun was setting. Scott turned back. “We should get going,” he said and Peter nodded.

“You go start the car, I’ll get my coat,” he said, heading down the hallway away from the door as all the kids filed out. He retrieved his coat from where he’d let Allison put it away, only to turn around and run into Chris. Peter smirked when Chris’s hands curled around his forearms. “Ninja steps,” he whispered and Chris smiled uneasily.

“Be careful. Seriously. They’ll know you’re the most experienced werewolf, so they’ll want to make you prove yourself.” Peter gave him a lecherous look and Chris rolled his eyes. “You pervert, I mean oldest and longest as a werewolf.” He swatted at his arm. “What’s wrong with you?”

Peter slung his arms around Chris’s neck and dropped his head back, sighing as he leaned away, hanging onto Chris. “Oh, there’s so many things wrong with me. Do you want it alphabetically or by degree of seriousness-“ Chris cut him off with a kiss when he straightened up. Peter bit back a groan, sliding his hands down Chris’s chest to clutch at his shirt. “What was that?”

Chris chuckled, kissing him again. “Easiest way to stop the nonsense that comes out of your mouth.”

“The easiest way would be for something else to come _into_ -“ Chris kissed him again, shutting him up. Peter grumbled when he pulled away. “You’re no fun.”

Chris snorted. “You’re a child.” He pulled away and straightened his jacket. “Seriously, though. If the Tengu kill you, I won’t get to shoot you some day,” he said and Peter winked.

“Don’t let them eat you, either. I still need you around for when I finally lose it and go on a rampage. I have to start with a hunter and those are in short supply these days,” he said, then stalked past Chris, not looking back.

However, in the reflection of the hall mirror, he could see Chris’s calm, determined demeanor as he checked his gun clip, and Peter was struck by a sudden feeling of _worry_ in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the fact that, deep down, he was _worried_ about Chris’s wellbeing. He couldn’t stop from thinking about it as he left the apartment and headed to the elevator. He was stuck with one thought:

 _This can’t be happening_.

~

Peter drove slowly through town as Derek texted Isaac to see if there was any sign of Lydia, and Scott called Danny in the backseat, who was helping them get a location on Stiles’s phone. He tapped his fingers on the wheel, wondering what was taking so long.

“Why do you smell like gunpowder?”

Peter looked over at Derek quickly, before looking back at the road. “What?” he asked, frowning in confusion.

Peter could see Derek’s carefully blank expression from the corner of his eyes. “You smell like gunpowder and sex,” he said tersely and Peter immediately froze, careful not to hit the brakes in reaction.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-“

“You’ve been seeing someone, that’s undeniable,” Derek cut in.

Scott leaned up between the seats, eyes wide. “Dude… have you been leaving Mr. Argent _alone_ and going to get laid?! That defeats the purpose of him being at your place when the Tengu are out at night!”

Peter perked up. “Yes. Yes I have been. There’s this bar outside of town-“

Derek sighed, letting his head fall back. “Scott, you dumbass, I said _gunpowder_ and sex.”

Scott’s jaw dropped as the dots connected and Peter slumped in his seat some. “ _Dude_!” he said and Peter glared at him in the rearview mirror.

“Oh like you have any room to talk Mr. ‘username- Allison, password- also Allison’.”

Derek slammed a hand on the console, startling both Peter and Scott. “He’s a _hunter_! He’s an _Argent_ and a hunter, Peter!”

Peter huffed. “Yeah like you have any room to talk,” he grumbled and Derek growled, eyes flashing and fangs dropping. “Oh shut up, Derek.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair before gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles went white. “Fuck.” He thumped his head back against the headrest. “I know, okay?” he admitted in a low voice.

“Then why the hell-“

“It’s just sex!” Peter argued in a defensive tone. “He just- he noticed I couldn’t help looking at him and he started flirting and it drove me _crazy_ -“

“And him being an Argent wasn’t enough to make you keep it in your pants?” Derek demanded harshly.

Peter glared at him before turning back to the road. “We got in a fight when we got back to my apartment after he suggested killing Stiles, because I’m well aware the only reason you two sorry excuses for werewolves are even still alive is because Stiles is smarter than all of you,” he said pointedly. “One minute we were shouting, then we were shoving each other around, then suddenly instead of shoving each other around, it was shoving each other against the walls and ripping each other’s clothes off,” he said bitterly. “It wasn’t- I wasn’t _thinking_ , okay?”

Derek was quiet, looking out the window as his jaw worked. Scott, cleared his throat awkwardly. “So… was it just the once or…” he trailed off and Peter sighed.

“No,” he admitted tightly. He smirked severely. “To be in his forties, that man can sure fuck,” he said and Scott gave him a horrified look. Peter chuckled darkly, amused by Scott’s face. Derek, however, looked even closer to rage. Peter cringed. “Look. It’s just sex. It’s not like I give a damn about Chris Argent as more than a potential ally,” he said, horrified to realize that, had he not worked hard to lie to werewolves, his heart skipping a beat would’ve given himself away. 

_Fuck._

~

When Scott’s second call to Danny had ended in Danny screaming, they had driven to Kira’s house - where he was watching her - in a hurry. When they got there, Kira’s parents were out and Kira and Danny were missing. However, when they got outside, there were five Tengu waiting on them. Peter wasn’t sure what happened, but one minute he and Derek were rushing to attack one together, and the next he was waking up chained to a radiator in a basement somewhere.

“Well damn. I thought he was dead. That sucks.” Peter lifted his head and blinked, only to realized Stiles was the one talking. 

“Oh look, we found Stiles,” he said casually and there was a snort from his left. He looked and Derek was chained to the other end of the radiator. He looked around the room and spotted Scott and Lydia tied back to back around a column. Stiles was chained to a tool chest that he was sitting on top of, whereas Danny was sitting tied in a chair beside him, back to back with another chair that held Kira. Ethan was chained to the bars over the window right across from Peter, his hands above his head. “Well shit. There’s more of us here than there are out there looking for us.”

“We kinda hoped you were dead,” Lydia said and Peter tried to raise a hand to flip her off, only to huff when he couldn’t. He settled for sticking his tongue out at her. “Very mature,” she said and he rolled his eyes.

“So now that Creepy Uncle Badtouch is awake, how do we get out?” Danny asked. “You’re the older werewolf. You have to know something we don’t.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like I know why the Tengu chained us up in a basement somewhere?”

“Probably to get to Mr. Argent,” Ethan offered. 

Scott groaned. “Damn. We sent him with Aiden to find you so when Aiden gets here, he’ll have Mr. Argent with him and we’re all here so we can’t help out. It was totally a trap!”

Stiles hummed. “To be fair, Aiden and Isaac are still werewolves and Allison and her dad are still badass hunters, so that’s four people versus like five Tengu.”

“Five Tengu took down three werewolves without a fight,” Scott pointed out. He looked over at Peter. “Hey, does Mr. Argent know how to kill them?”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “How should I know?”

Derek huffed. “You’re the one having sex with him,” he said and Peter scoffed.

“Yes, because I’m thinking about his hunting strategies when we have sex instead of, you know, the hot guy fucking me,” he said scathingly. He had forgot that others were listening until everyone’s horrified silence broke and they one by one started to react.

“Oh my God, that is NOT what I thought would happen when we talked about our mutual attraction to older men!” Stiles cried, looking horrified. “Oh God, Scott- Scott break free and gouge out my eyes, buddy. Do it for me!”

Lydia shuddered. “The hell is wrong with Allison’s dad? First her mother the psycho murderer, now … another psycho murderer. Huh. Must have a type.”

Danny hummed. “Well… I can’t blame him, Lydia. I mean, Mr. Argent’s kinda hot and werewolves are great in bed,” he said and Scott and Lydia both groaned.

“Ew, Danny-“

“TMI, dude-“

“Wait, what?!” Kira asked, trying to look over her shoulder. “You dated one of them?! Was it Derek?” she asked and Derek cleared his throat. “What?! Danny’s cute, if I was you, I’d totally go for him! Not that there’s anything wrong with Stiles, he’s cute too, oh God don’t kill me for calling your boyfriend ugly!” she gushed.

Stiles spluttered. “WHAT?! Oh my God, Kira! No. Noooo. Not at all. Holy crap, no.”

Kira frowned. “But he was so worried about you when you were missing after you stabbed him. I thought he was your boyfriend?”

Derek flushed and cleared his throat awkwardly. “No. Not really. And I wasn’t that worried. Just.. he can kill us. I was worried about dying. Since he’d just stabbed me.”

Peter snorted. “Bitch please-“

“Peter.”

“What?! You outed me for screwing a hunter-“

“Peter, I will get out of here eventually.”

“You’d totally be tapping that if he wasn’t underage-“

“Oh my God, I’m going to kill you. Again. And make sure you stay dead. Lydia will help,” Derek growled.

Scott interrupted quickly. “Danny was dating Ethan, Kira, that’s what he’s talking about. Not Derek. Nobody’s dating Derek. Not Stiles. Stiles hasn’t had sex with anybody so he wouldn’t know either. Please don’t ask him about werewolf sex either!”

Ethan glared at Scott and Stiles spluttered. “Scott!”

Scott cringed. “Um… sorry for bringing up the virgin thing?” he asked and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Oh who gives a shit about that, everybody knows that, but why would you bring up Ethan and Danny’s breakup?! That’s such a dick move!” he complained.

Scott frowned. “Why not? I thought we didn’t like Ethan?” Ethan gave him a hurt look and he shrugged. “What? You killed our friend.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to like him to not be a dick to him. We put up with Jackson for like five years without being a dick to him. Well most of the time.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Jackson didn’t kill people until last spring-“

“Yeah no, Jackson was way worse than Ethan and Aiden,” Scott agreed, cutting her off. “Ethan at least was following orders and tries to earn forgiveness, Jackson was just an asshole.”

Peter snorted. “It’s amusing being an asshole outweighs murder in your eyes, boys.”

“You’re both asshole and murderer, so we really hate you,” Scott answered and Stiles nodded.

Kira looked at Ethan and hummed. “I’ve seen you a lot at school, but I didn’t know you dated Danny,” she said and Ethan bit his lip and looked away. 

“It was before you moved here,” he said and Danny made a derisive noise from behind her. 

“It’s not like we were actually boyfriends anyways. Thank God. I thought my ex was bad for cheating on me, but at least he didn’t date me just in case he needed to kill me later.” Danny glared at Stiles. “Yeah thanks for not telling me that part until Aiden spilled on the phone earlier. You knew the whole time, and you never thought to warn me I might die?” he asked Stiles and Stiles just rolled his eyes at him.

Ethan looked up and narrowed his eyes, glaring at the back of Danny’s head, since he was facing the other direction tied in his chair. “I wouldn’t have actually did it, you know?” he defended. “And I sure would’ve liked the memo that we weren’t actually dating somewhere in there. I’m pretty sure going on dates and all the other crap we were doing is ‘dating’. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been as surprised to come back to school and find out you were back with that ‘bastard ex’ you complained about before.”

“Oh please,” Danny snorted. “You disappeared for two weeks! You cannot have seriously expected to randomly show up at school and me accept a ‘sorry’ and go on like it was nothing-“

“No, but I didn’t expect you to have moved on that freaking fast!” Ethan argued. 

“It was two weeks-“

“And the last time someone went missing for two weeks, what happened? They were found _dead_!” Ethan argued. “For all you knew, I was dead somewhere, and instead of mourning your probably dead boyfriend, you decided to just go back to screwing your cheating ex?!”

Peter was amused to see he wasn’t the only one watching them going back and forth like a tennis match. He was more amused to see Derek glaring at the ceiling as if wishing for it to fall on him. Derek glanced over and Peter raised an eyebrow. Derek rolled his eyes. “I’ll pay you money to knock me out now,” he whispered and Peter snickered.

“But it’s getting good,” he countered and Derek glared.

“There was freaking _cuddling in your back yard looking at the stars_ and you mean to tell me you didn’t even consider me an actual ‘boyfriend’ even?! Seriously? Are you that emotionally stunted?” Ethan cried and Stiles snorted, rolling his eyes. “See! Even Stiles agrees and he’s so lame he lives vicariously through drag queens!”

“Hey! I’m on your side here, dude, don’t be like that,” Stiles said with a frown.

Lydia looked at him. “Wait, why are you on his side?! This is _Danny_.”

Stiles shrugged. “Sorry, I mean, Danny’s awesome and all, but they were totally sickeningly cute boyfriends and if he’s denying that, he’s just being a dick just because he’s pissed Ethan turned out to be semi-evil. Cause like… even if I totally think Ethan and Aiden don’t belong in the pack and stuff - sorry dude, but you did kill our friend – it doesn’t change shit that DID happen,” he said simply. “That would be like you trying to pretend you never loved Jackson just because he ended up killing people, you know?”

“She and Jackson dated for over a year,” Danny argued. “It was nothing even similar between me and Ethan-“

“No, I’m not saying that,” Stiles argued. “But dude… you guys held hands and smiled at each other with these dorky ass looks on your face. It was like Scott when he first started dating Allison, from the stupidly romantic date-things, to the hand holding and sickeningly sweet things, and dude, you got so pissed that time Isaac kicked his ass that you hit him with a basketball in gym a few days later totally on purpose,” he said. “Face it. You were dating. Stop being a dick to Ethan about it.”

“I seriously risked my ass trying to protect you from all the shit going on, the least you can do is admit you were kind of an asshole for not even worrying about me when I went missing,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes. “Aiden nearly lost his shit when I kept risking our lives to make sure you weren’t around when bad shit was going down-“

“Yeah, bad shit you were _involved_ in, apparently,” Danny argued.

“Fine. Whatever. Message received very clearly. You’re just a dick and I was stupid to pick _you_ to be the first person I actually had sex with,” Ethan snapped.

Derek groaned loudly, hands over his face. “I will pay you all to shut up. Oh my God. I could not get more serious right now,” he pleaded. “Peter won’t kill me, so the only other choice is that I kill _all_ of you whenever I get free unless you all _shut up_!”

Peter smirked. “I dunno, I think it’s very interesting-“

“I’ll kill you too. Again. More slowly and painfully,” Derek growled, eyes flashing.

Peter just snickered. “Oh come one. We could all be about to die. Why not have some soap opera drama? I’m still waiting for someone to announce they’re pregnant,” he said and Derek glared.

“You’re seriously insane,” he said and Peter sighed, nodding.

“Yep. Pretty much.” He rattled his chains. “These things hurt. If I’m gonna die, I’d love it to be more comfortable,” he grumbled. 

“Sadly, you’re not going to die.” Everyone stopped talking and bickering and looked to see Allison looking through the bars above Ethan’s head. She held up a torch. “I’d be really still if I were you,” she said and Ethan ducked down as she started cutting through the bars.

Derek sighed. “Oh great. Saved by an Argent. Again. I hate my life,” he grumbled and Peter couldn’t help the immature giggles that escaped his mouth at Derek’s dramatics.

~

After the kids had all been taken to their respective homes with plans to meet the following morning to talk about what had gone down, Allison reluctantly brought Chris back to Peter’s apartment. It hadn’t taken but a few minutes before he adrenaline from the night got to them and, before Peter really thought about it, he and Chris had fallen into bed together.

It was only afterwards, while lying beside one another, sweaty and sated, coming down from the whole day’s high, that Peter’s guilt started to get to him when he glanced over at Chris’s profile, eyes shut, lips slightly parted as he relaxed, not sleeping but not fully awake, and his insides squirmed. He shouldn’t feel anything for the man beside him. He was attractive, yes, but Peter felt an overwhelming longing to slide closer and lay his head on Chris’s chest and loop an arm around his waist. It was _just sex_ , so why should he feel the desire to be _held_ by a hunter? An _Argent_ , his brain reminded him. 

But he did. As Peter looked over at Chris, he wanted nothing more than to curl into him and get comfortable. He fisted his hand on his middle to stop the shaking as he fought against the desire to reach out and touch Chris. Peter turned his face up to the ceiling. He swallowed hard and inhaled audibly when he opened his mouth. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he whispered, almost startled by himself when he managed to actually speak the words he was thinking.

Chris hummed and Peter stared ahead resolutely as he heard the rustling whisper of Chris’s stubble against the pillowcase as he turned his head to look over. “What?” he asked innocently.

Peter bit his lip and closed his eyes. “We shouldn’t be sleeping together. What we’re doing is wrong. It goes against our very natures,” he whispered. “You’re a werewolf hunter. And I’m a werewolf.”

He risked turning and saw two piercingly pale blue eyes searching his face. Chris met his eyes and Peter had never felt more disarmed by how impenetrable Chris was. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. Nothing, not a single line etched into Chris’s face, gave away a shred of a hint at his thoughts. When Chris finally spoke, Peter had no way of ever expecting the words he said. “Peter, I’m not Kate and you aren’t Derek,” he said softly, his voice sad but warm. “I’m not Gerard either. I’m not even Allison. I have never, and will never become what they all did. You know that. So why is the guilt getting to you now?”

Peter looked away again, turning to the ceiling. “It’s just sex, Christopher. Good sex, hell _incredible_ sex, even. But it’s still just sex, and while making my nephew squirm has been fun for all of his life, even the best sex of my life isn’t worth betraying any tiny shred of faith he’s started to regain in me.” Peter closed his eyes. “The look in his eyes, Christopher, when he asked me why I smell like gunpowder and sex? The knowing and utterly betrayed, yet _accepting_ look in his eyes was more damning than anything,” he whispered. “He seemed like he wasn’t even surprised that I would ‘betray’ him and our dead relatives. It’s like he had dared to hope I wouldn’t turn on him, but deep down he expected it all along. And I understand. That’s the worst part,” he admitted weakly. “Because he has no reason to expect that I care about him after what all I’ve done, and this is just another nail in the coffin.” He turned to look at Chris, knowing his eyes showed how much hurt and fear he held inside of himself, laid out bare for Chris to see. “Because even if you’re not like Gerard or Kate, you’re still an Argent, Christopher.”

The sad smile on Chris’s face told Peter all he needed to know about Chris’s understanding. “Alright, Peter,” he said simply. He sat up and slid out of bed, glancing back at Peter only once as he gathered his clothes and left the room without a word.

That night, Peter felt the coolness of autumn bordering on winter all too well as he slept alone for the first time in a couple of weeks.

~

The whole meeting before school at Stiles’s house the next morning was a blur for Peter because Derek wouldn’t even look at him. He remembered the gist of it all because Chris had told him what he and Allison worked out while they were missing. The Tengu had taken all the kids they could to draw Chris out. They didn’t care about them. They didn’t care about the basement they left them all in. They wanted Christ and knew he would come to the children’s rescue. That’s why Isaac, Aiden, and Allison had gone to save them and left Chris hiding inside a circle of mountain ash at his apartment just to be sure. 

Derek knew what had happened when Peter and Chris got home. Peter could guess that much going by the angry and betrayed look Derek had given them when they arrived. He hoped Derek would at least let him explain that it was over. He felt ridiculous, after all their lives as children, always competing to one-up the other, knowing he was going to have to beg for forgiveness if he wanted to form any semblance of ‘pack’ between them again.

When they finished and the kids went to school, Derek left before Peter could get to him. He refused to give up though. He went to Derek’s loft and waited for Derek to get home. It took a few hours of waiting before Derek showed up finally. When he got inside, he just sighed and rolled his eyes, going to the couch. “What do you want?” he growled, glaring at Peter who was standing at the window. 

Peter couldn’t bring himself to turn and face Derek. “I wanted to talk to you-“

“I doubt we have anything to talk about,” Derek countered harshly.

Peter closed his eyes. “I ended it,” he said tersely.

Derek snorted. “Good for you. Did you want a pat on the back for finally thinking with your brain, not with your dick?” 

Peter’s nostrils flared as he tried to stay calm. “I thought you should know that I ended it after we talked-“

“No, you ended it to try and get back into my good books,” Derek countered and Peter turned to glare at him. Derek rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, you think I am naïve enough to think you give a shit about right and wrong? You never have and never will, will you?” he asked coldly. “You want something from me, so you’re trying to make it seem like you actually feel bad for… anything. Ever. You don’t do guilt. You don’t have remorse. You feel _nothing_ -“

“You honestly think I would do something just to try and make myself look better?” Peter snapped. “You think I’m stupid enough to think that would make you change your mind about me?” He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re blind enough to fall for that. Not anymore. I’m not that hopeful in your ignorance. You’ve proven that you may be impetuous and you jump the gun a lot, but you’re not stupid,” he said as he approached Derek. “I did it because you’re right. He’s an _Argent_ -“

“Good for you,” Derek drawled. “Why the hell do you think I needed to know unless you wanted something from me and wanted to prove ‘look, I did something good, so you do something for me’?! I don’t owe you anything and I sure as hell don’t expect anything from you.”

Peter sighed, shaking his head as he passed Derek. “You should, though. You should expect loyalty. You should expect me to be on your side. You should expect so much more from me than ‘nothing’,” he said in passing.

“Why? All I expect from you is that you’re eventually going to kill someone I actually care about or get them killed.” Peter winced at the implication.

Peter stopped at the door, taking a breath. “You have no reason to believe me. I get that. But you have to realize that you’re the only thing keeping me here, Derek.” Peter leaned his head against the cool metal of the door. “You owe me nothing. But I owe you _everything_. I’m your uncle. I’m your _family_. Whatever you think of me, whatever I’ve done in the past, none of it matters now, because I’m not the same. And all that matters is that I’ll _always_ put you first.” 

Derek didn’t make a sound. He didn’t even seem to be breathing. Peter didn’t bother turning to look back before he dragged the door open and left.

~

Peter really missed his sister.

Peter hadn’t had many times in his life he had ever wanted her more than as he lay on the couch thinking back to Derek’s words. All he could hear was a repeated chorus of _You don’t do guilt. You don’t have remorse. You feel_ nothing _._

Because he wished it. 

Peter wished so hard that he could go back to his ‘insanity’. He wished he could stop caring. He wished the guilt ended. He hated it. He hated that he remembered how it felt to kill Laura. He hated that he could remember everything he did to Lydia. He hated that he had gone and let himself get involved with an _Argent_.

Worse still, he hated that he missed the way being with Chris seemed to make some of the never ending barrage of horrible memories go away, or at least get quiet.

Peter could tell even Loki could feel his distress the way she was snuggled up to his chest, butting her head against his chin, trying to make him feel better. He loved her for it, but it only made it hurt worse to remember that the only being in the world that cared about him was his _cat_. As he lay there, holding her close, careful not to hurt her by hugging her too hard, he closed his eyes because her black hair just reminded him of his sister. The last time he had ever felt so helpless and hopeless had been when he was seventeen and showed up at her house in the middle of the night. 

_The rain was cold. Peter couldn’t really see through it, but even if he could, it wouldn’t matter because he couldn’t see through his tears. He knew he was being too obvious. He ran too fast for a human and anybody could see as he ran along the road. When he ran into the forest, he was being too loud. If any hunters had come into town without Talia or his father noticing, he’d be shot on sight, he knew it._

_But he didn’t care._

_He didn’t care because he wanted Talia. He wanted his big sister. He didn’t care if he got shot on the way there because the idea of it taking even longer to get there was worse than the idea of a gunshot wound._

_When he saw the house finally, he let out a broken sob, sprinting flat out when he got to the clearing of the front yard. He saw that Talia and Andrew’s car and saw that the light in the front hall was on. It was way past their normal bedtime, but he didn’t care. He just wanted Talia. He ran up the porch and let out a broken sound as he reached out to knock, only to have the door open, startling him into stopping short. He looked up with wide eyes and Talia was standing there with worry on her face. “Peter?! What’s wrong, are you okay? Is mom and dad-“_

_She stopped when he flung himself at her, wrapping his arms around her middle. “_ Talia _,” he sobbed weakly, pressing his face into her neck, inhaling her scent. “I can’t- I’m sorry it’s late-“ He stopped and just _cried_ when she curled her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. _

_“Peter, come inside,” she soothed, pulling him into the hall. She shut the door and pulled out of his hold enough to walk him down the hall towards the kitchen with her arm around his shoulder. Peter looked up and saw Andrew looking over the railing at them and he turned and hid his face in Talia’s neck as the kept walking. He didn’t want to look his brother-in-law in the eyes right now. When they got to the kitchen, Talia sat him at the island and immediately put on tea. She always made him tea when he came over even though neither of them really liked it. He thought it was hilarious and he was pretty sure she did, too. When she came back with a cup for him and one for herself, she looked at him closely. “First thing first,” she started. “Are mom and dad okay?”_

_Peter snorted bitterly, tears still stinging his eyes even though they had stopped falling. “Oh they’re perfectly freaking fine,” he gritted out. He looked down at his hands around the cup and then sniffled. “They kicked me out. I lost my bag in the woods, but they- they made me pack a bag and leave. They- they didn’t even want me to stay until the rain stopped,” he whimpered, lip wobbling. “They told me they didn’t want me and I can’t go home and- and they_ kicked me out _,” he cried, looking up when Talia reached across the island and swiped the tears from under his eyes as they fell._

_“Why?” she asked softly and he looked up with a bitter glare._

_“You_ know _why,” he spluttered. “You can smell it on me just like they did,” he accused._

_She shook her head. “You smell like rain and the forest, but then overwhelmingly like stress and sadness. I can’t smell anything else.”_

_He swallowed hard and sighed, putting his head in his hands, looking down into his mug. “They found out I’m gay,” he whispered and then glanced up through his bangs, trying to see how Talia reacted._

_He almost started crying again when she just met his eyes searchingly then nodded. “How did they find out?” she asked simply, though he could see something angry lingering in her gaze. He hoped she wasn’t going to kick him out too._

_He rolled his eyes. “My boyfriend- well, no, the bastard who I thought was my boyfriend met me at the movies and he was supposed to drive me most of the way home, but he-“ He stopped then bit back a bitter feeling of hurt and resentment and shame. “We’d been meeting and going out for a while now and- and I thought he loved me,” he whispered. “I thought I loved him, too. And I’d never did it before, but I thought it would be special. So tonight we… well, you know.” He blushed slightly. “We had sex,” he admitted, not looking at Talia. “But after- After he said ‘finally, I never thought you’d give it up’ and told me that he only dated me to get me to have sex with him and he was glad he didn’t have to spend his weekends wasting time with me anymore,” he said and Talia gasped._

_“Oh God, Peter,” she breathed and he nodded, sniffling._

_“He didn’t even like me. He just wanted to prove to his friends he could get me to have sex with him,” he gritted out. “And then he kicked me out of the car and left me there. I had to walk home.” He rolled his eyes. “I was late, past curfew, and instead of sneaking in, they were waiting and as soon as I got in, obviously I smelled like I’d had sex with another boy, and they knew and they- they called me disgusting and said they wouldn’t have ‘that stuff’ in their house and… and they kicked me out, Talia,” he said, looking up fearfully. “What do I do? I’m only seventeen!”_

_Talia glared at him. “Peter, don’t be an idiot,” she said and he pouted. “Dumbass, you’re staying here,” she said forcefully. She circled around the counter and he blinked up at her – he still hadn’t quite caught up with her height – and she put her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. “I’m sorry. For everything that happened to you tonight,” she said, kissing his wet hair. “I’m so sorry. But I love you, okay? You’re always gonna be my baby brother. No matter who you want to love. Mom and dad can kiss my ass.” She pulled back and cupped his face in her hand, the other still around his waist. “And don’t ever tell me your bastard ex-boyfriend’s name because I’d probably go eat him,” she growled and he smiled sadly. She shook her head. “I don’t know how anybody could be so cruel. Either of them. Our parents or that boy. You’re a smart, strong, beautiful kid, Kid,” she said firmly. “Now come one. Let’s get you dried off. You’re a werewolf, not a wet dog,” she teased, ruffling his wet hair as she pulled away. “You can wear some of Andrew’s clothes tonight and tomorrow we’ll find your bag, get the rest of your things from Dad’s house, then go get whatever else you need to make the guest room yours,” she said, sliding her hand into his to pull him along._

_Peter followed speechlessly, looking at her. He felt something shifting inside of him. She was his big sister. She was his savior. She was the one person who had_ always _loved him. And he could tell when she stopped on the stairs and smiled back at him, she felt it too._

_She was now his alpha._

_Peter threw his arms around Talia and hugged her tight, nearly throwing them both down the stairs. “I love you,” he choked out and she just held him, nuzzling her face into his hair to comfort him with whispered reassurances._

_“Love you, too. Everything’s going to be alright.”_

Peter didn’t even realize he’d started crying until Loki pulled out of his arms to get away from the tears falling into her fur. He let her go and twisted to lie on his belly, pressing his face into the throw pillow as he let out a broken sob. “ _Talia_ ,” he whimpered, claws coming out to tear holes in the pillow as he gripped it tighter.

In the past six years, since the day he lost everything, he had _never_ wanted his big sister to hold him and tell him it was all going to be okay more than he did right now. He knew right then that he would’ve given anything, anything in the entire world, just to smell her calming, comforting scent one more time.

~

Peter was still lying on his side, knees curled closer to his middle, staring ahead as he lay his head on the tattered pillow, when Chris got back from going out with Allison. Peter didn’t react. He was too emotionally dried out to even bother. He didn’t even look up when Chris came over and sat on the empty cushion down by Peter’s feet. “Well hello to you too,” Chris said and Peter continued to stare ahead. Peter could hear Chris leaning closer and he knew he leaned back after checking to be sure Peter was alive, he was so still. “Are you okay?” Peter didn’t speak. “Did something happen?”

Peter sighed, realizing Chris wasn’t going to stop. “Went to see Derek,” he said simply.

Chris hummed. “Ah. Didn’t end well?” he asked. Peter flinched slightly as he remembered the hatred in his nephew’s eyes. He thought he’d held it in but Chris seemed to have noticed. “Peter?” he asked gently. 

Peter felt a hand sliding along his thigh comfortingly and he jerked away from the touch, sitting up. “Don’t touch me,” he grunted. Chris’s hand slid into his and Peter barely held back a sob because it felt _so right_. But the memory of Derek’s vicious words had him snatching his hand away. “I said stop!”

Chris leaned back against the arm and sighed. “So he wasn’t as impressed by you breaking it off with me as you hoped, huh-“

“Shut up!” Peter growled, standing up. “You say that like something happened. _Nothing_ happened!”

Chris gave him a weary yet amused look, searching his face. “I might believe that if _you_ believed that-“

“It was just sex!” Peter snarled. “All we did was fuck. All you are to me is a hunter that happens to be a good fuck.”

Chris’s mouth tilted a darkly entertained way. “Am I really?” he asked disbelievingly and it only enraged Peter further.

“You. Are. NOTHING!” 

Chris chuckled enigmatically. “Of course I’m not. The look in your eyes when you smile at me is nothing but hatred laced in attraction. The way you let me touch you is the same way you let _everybody_ touch you-“

“Shut up.”

“Face it Peter, you’re not as heartless as you want to prove you are-“

“SHUT UP!” Peter cried, blood boiling.

Chris leaned closer, looking at him unrelentingly. “Your desperate need for Derek to accept you as family proves you have feelings, and the way you lower your guard around me tells me that you trust me, which is more than you give anybody else-“

Peter grabbed Chris by the throat in one move, fangs and claws elongating. “Say another word I dare you,” he growled at him. 

Chris just pressed closer into his clawed hold, eyes calm as ever. “And I trust you would never hurt me, Peter,” he said softly, eyes finally showing an emotion. He looked sad. “I know you’re hurting, but you don’t have to push me out.”

Peter tried to close his hand. He tried to rip Chris’s throat our right there on his couch. He tried to _hurt_ this hunter who had infiltrated his home the way he knew he should want to.

… but he couldn’t do it.

Peter’s face shut down as he simply dropped his hand. He stood up and left the couch, heading towards his bedroom. “Don’t ever do that again,” he warned in a weak, wretched tone as he slipped into his room.

He shut the door behind him.

~

For days Peter tried ignoring Chris. He wanted to ignore Derek and the rejection he’d faced at Derek’s hands, but Stiles kept coming to work to visit him every afternoon that it was Derek’s watch duty. Peter would be amused at Stiles’s craftiness in how to make Derek and Peter interact if he wasn’t so sick of the constipated look Derek got when he was around Peter. Most of the visits were spent with Stiles and Peter chatting about random things – or bickering about things more often – while Derek awkwardly hung around and Peter squashed down the sadness he had over Derek’s dismissal.

He still freaked Stiles out, he knew that. And it was amusing to throw in something menacing just to see Stiles squirm. But Stiles was definitely his favorite for a reason. Stiles was whip-smart and absolutely the most sarcastic little shit Peter had ever met that didn’t have the last name Hale. Peter was surprised he hadn’t got in trouble for the two of them at work, but they seemed to conveniently find something else to look at when Peter had customers, almost like they actually cared if he got fired or not. Well, Stiles did, at least.

After a couple weeks with Stiles there every afternoon after school, Stiles and Derek _not_ showing up had him worried. He anxiously stared at the clock as it drew closer for time for him to get off work. As soon as Peter’s time to clock out came, he rushed to turn on his phone and get to his car. He called Derek the minute he was out of the building, but it just rang. He hung up and tried Stiles, but had the same. He gave up on ignoring Chris and called him too, hurriedly running to his car just slow enough to not make it obvious he was supernatural to other drivers in the parking lot. 

When he got in his car and none of the three answered, he tried Scott. He was just pulling out of the parking lot when Scott answered. “Peter? What’re you calling me for?” Scott asked, sounding confused.

“Scott, are you with Stiles or Derek?” he asked and Scott paused.

“No, why would I be? They were going to see you at work again- oh shit, they didn’t show up?!” 

Peter cursed. “NO!” He took a calming breath. “I can’t get Argent on the phone either. He was at my place. I’m going there. But if those three are missing, we can bet the Tengu are involved.”

“I’ll call Allison. We’ll meet you there,” Scott said before hanging up. Peter threw his phone across the car and pulled out of the parking lot, hoping beyond all hope that Chris’s phone just wasn’t charged.

~

Peter, Scott, and Allison only made it through the door to his apartment before black smoke overwhelmed them and everything went dark.

~

Peter was really tired of waking up on the ground. This time they appeared to be in a cave it seemed. Derek, Scott, and Allison were all pacing the border of what clearly wasn’t mountain ash, especially since Allison couldn’t cross it either, and on the other side, across the cave, inside of some sort of circle made of the same white dust, Stiles and Chris stood across from one another, on opposite sides of the circle they were inside of.

“What’s going on?” Peter asked groggily as he stood.

Stiles looked over, eyes wide and tearful. “Shit. I hoped you wouldn’t wake up,” he said, but his smile was more terrified than his usual sarcasm warranted. 

Peter forced a smile and looked to the others. Derek looked more nervous than anything, eyes openly fearful. Scott looked determined to find a way out from their little corner of captivity. Allison just looked grim, sharing some silent conversation with her father made only with eye contact it seemed. “Scott?” Peter asked, deferring to the alpha, even if he really wanted to ask Chris what was happening instead. 

Scott looked to him. “I don’t-“

“Well, well. It appears the elder wolf has joined us.” Peter turned and was startled to see all five Tengu standing between their exile and the circle in the center of the cave. They walked in unison to surround the circle, leaving a clear view for the ones in the box to see. “Now we can begin the trial.”

“Trial?” Stiles asked weakly. “What have I done to warrant that?”

The main Tengu, the one who was speaking, the one directly across from where Peter, Derek, Allison, and Scott were standing, halfway between Stiles and Chris but outside the circle, just turned to Stiles, it’s eyes just deep glowing holes. “You are not the accused, you are the punisher.”

Stiles paled. “The _say what now?!_.”

Chris inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, face crumpling. “Damn it, I should’ve noticed.”

Allison’s heart picked up and she looked to him. “Dad? What’s going on?”

Chris turned grim eyes to Stiles. “You were exposed to the Nemeton with Allison. You had the spark of magic in you that they need and they saw that through the Nemeton. Your sleepwalking? It’s not just sleepwalking,” he said apologetically. “They poisoned your magic through the Nemeton’s attachment. They’re taking control of you. Like a puppet. But only a weak control. Those times you left your bedroom and went out, you were looking for me. When they took you they fixed that weak control. You haven’t sleepwalked since, have you?” Stiles shook his head. Chris nodded dimly. “If you had, you would’ve found me and killed me.”

Stiles’s eyes widened impossibly further. “ _Killed_ you?!”

Chris looked at the head Tengu. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? A death match. Not a trial.” 

“You have been found guilty long before this trial,” it said in a haunting voice. “All those in favor of execution?” it asked and simultaneously all Tengu nodded. “So it will be.”

“Death match? Execution?!” Scott asked, voice high. “Mr. Argent-“

Chris bowed his head. “They’ll take control of Stiles and he will attack me. If he kills me, I’m dead. But if I win and kill him, then I live my whole life knowing I murdered an innocent child,” he said in a weak tone. “It’s the ultimate Tengu punishment. Death or dishonor.”

Stiles looked stricken, before his mouth snapped shut and he clenched his jaw. “I won’t do it,” he said, turning to the head Tengu. “I refuse to submit-“

“We don’t need your submission-“

“The hell you do,” Stiles snarled, face twisting from fear to anger. “I am not helpless. I am not your puppet,” he growled, pacing to the line right in front of the Tengu. “I will not. Hurt. Him.”

Peter knew that intention and belief was a major part of how magic worked. He’d heard about how true belief was the main component of powerful magic. But he had never felt its effects until that moment, for as soon as Stiles spoke, a ripple of some invisible warmth spread throughout the room, the power emanating from Stiles. When he turned to look around the circle, Peter wasn’t the only one that seemed almost in awe of the way Stiles’s face had somehow moved from the broken yet determinedly happy boy they knew. Instead, his face was that of a person far more grown up than they ever should’ve been. He looked _strong_ , and _angry_. He looked as powerful as Peter had always suspected he was in that moment as he walked the border of their circular prison and looked into the eyes of each Tengu warrior. 

“You will _not_ take away my consent. You will _not_ gain control over my body. I am not going to become a killer. I will _not_ hurt anybody unless it’s one of you,” he commanded, his voice full of authority. 

The clout Stiles carried, however, dimmed when the Tengu who had spoken materialized from the opposite side of the circle into the corner where Peter, Derek, Allison, and Scott were all trapped instead. Peter roared and instinctively shoved Scott and Derek behind him to where Allison was standing, putting himself between the children and the Tengu as it spoke. “You will deliver the punishment or we’ll persuade you,” he said to Stiles, though its lifeless eyes were fixed over Peter’s shoulder.

“Fuck,” Stiles spat and Chris rushed to the edge of the circle, eyes grim. 

“No, stop! I’ll accept my punishment,” Chris said in defeat. “They’re children and men that aren’t a part of this. None of these people are a part of my problem. Let them go.”

The Tengu turned to Stiles instead of Chris. “Deliver the punishment.”

Stiles looked worriedly at Scott, Allison, and Derek, then to Peter, and back to Chris, who nodded. Stiles shook his head, eyes wide. “I- I can’t-“

“Stiles, either let them control you to kill me, or they’ll kill them. It’s me or your friends-“

“I can’t _murder_ someone!” Stiles squeaked, voice tightening. “I can’t- don’t ask me to commit _murder_ -“

“Either you commit it or my daughter is the victim of it,” Chris snapped. 

The Tengu seemed impatient. “Maybe you’ll choose faster if we start with the angry one,” it said, and Peter watched it’s eyes turn to Derek, who froze. The Tengu made a move towards Derek and Peter roared, rushing to get between them, claws flicking out with a deadly ‘snick’.

“I don’t think so,” Peter growled, eyes flashing blue. The Tengu started towards him and he swiped at it, distracting it from going further.

His claws made contact with what only like a cold foam, more than anything. The smoke was dense, like a super-dense mist, but it was just smoke. He didn’t make any purchase, there was no wound, but it at least distracted it from Derek. It turned from Peter to Derek again and Peter rushed it, shoving Derek backwards as he swung at the Tengu again. Derek crowded Allison and Scott back further and Peter refused to relent, fighting when he couldn’t even strike a blow, as long as it bought time. “Stiles!” he heard Chris shout. “You have to kill me-“

“I DON’T WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE A MURDERER!” Stiles shouted back.

“I know, Stiles, I know you don’t,” Chris reasoned. “I know that. And I’m _sorry_. But it’s kill or be killed. I was willing to kill you if I had to-“

“Well that’s you, not me!” Stiles argued. “For God’s sake, I’m the one that saves everybody’s asses, not the one that _murders_ people!”

“You’ll save them!” Chris reasoned. “Four lives versus one. It’s how it has to be-“

Peter shoved the Tengu off of him and turned to the circle. “Don’t do it, Stiles!” he shouted and Chris made a frustrated sound.

“You don’t get a say in this! It’s my life-“

“And I know what it feels like to live life knowing you’re a murderer!” Peter snapped, stilling even those behind him. “Every day of my life I want to _die_ for what I’ve done. You pulled a gun on me and I pushed your gun against my skull just _praying_ you would pull the trigger, Christopher. Don’t do that to him. Don’t _ask_ him to live a life as a murderer.”

Chris looked at him helplessly. “Peter… it’s not murder. It’s not. It’s sacrificing me to save the rest of you.” 

Peter turned back just in time to duck a blow and shove the Tengu away again, giving him time to turn back. “None of us want Stiles to live like that,” he said, glancing back at the other three for confirmation. They all were staring at Peter instead with strange, uncomfortably confused expressions.

Scott finally came out of it and nodded. “Stiles… find a way to break these circles. We’ve got this,” he said, and Stiles immediately scrambled to find a weak point in his own circle. 

Peter turned back to their sole Tengu as Scott and Allison started searching for a weak point in their prison. Derek came up beside Peter and helped him fight the Tengu as best they could. Peter could hear Chris shouting orders, giving instructions on what to look for as a way out, but he and Derek were busy. The Tengu was relentless. It didn’t seem to want to hurt them, it seemed determined to make them give up first. Either that or it was just playing for time, just like they were. It felt good to be fighting _alongside_ Derek, and not with him, Peter had to admit.

Moments later, Peter saw what they had been waiting for. A second Tengu had left the circle and been missed as everybody was fighting or looking for an escape. He only saw it because he saw the glint off of the black blade it drew from its _chest_ and raised as it approached Derek from behind. Peter’s heart _stopped_ when he saw the Tengu raising the blade behind Derek. “NO!” he screamed, and without a thought he shoved Derek out of the way, his protective instinct taking over. 

And the blade sank into Peter’s abdomen. He almost didn’t feel the piercing, burning pain of the sword going completely through him, because he was so relieved the blade had missed the target it had on Derek. It was only when he looked over that he saw Derek on the floor, staring up at him with horror etched into his features. “No,” Derek breathed, looking at the blade that was completely run through Peter.

Peter felt all of the pain, however, when the blade was snatched out by the Tengu wielding it. He took a ragged breath and looked down at the blood pouring down his body. “No!” Derek’s voice broke on the word. “Peter?!” 

Peter hated how young Derek sounded. He hated how afraid he sounded. He hated even worse, when he swayed to the side and another voice called out to him. “PETER?!” Peter looked up, vision swimming, but not enough to miss the piercing, perfect, beautiful, silver-blue eyes that were on him from across the cave. Chris ran to the circle’s border, placing his hands flat against the invisible boundary. “Shit, Peter,” he gasped and Peter felt his shaking legs growing weaker. His eyes were still on Chris’s when he felt something dripping from his lips. He raised a hand and touched his mouth, unsurprised to see blood when he pulled his hand away. He let himself fall to his knees and Chris shouted for him again.

“S’okay,” Peter choked out, voice garbled by the blood that coated his teeth and lips and tongue. He felt hands on his sides and he knew Derek was catching him from falling. He relaxed against Derek’s shoulder and took a ragged breath. “S’okay. Just stop them. I’ll- I’ll be fine.”

Chris shook his head. “Peter, you’re bleeding too fast even for werewolves,” he said, and Peter could see how stricken Chris was by his injury.

Peter managed a smirk. “No way, Christopher. I’ll be fine. Besides. If anybody’s going to murder you, I think it’s gonna be me,” he said weakly and Chris gave him a sad smile.

“Told you that you liked me,” Chris said and Peter just weakly grinned a bloody grin in return.

Peter’s eyelids were growing heavy but he forced them to open every time they fluttered shut. “Mmmm, you’re not bad for an Argent,” he teased, voice starting to slur as he grew _so tired_. “Chris- Christopher?” he asked, fighting to open his eyes after every blink. “Chris protect the kids and protect Derek for me.” He felt whoever he was leaning against grow stiff. “I’m just gonna- gonna rest. And heal. I’ll be fine-“

“Peter, don’t close your eyes.” Peter’s eyes opened again as the person holding him shook him. He opened his eyes and tilted his head, smiling when he saw Derek.

“Oh, hey Derek,” he said weakly. He leaned his head against Derek’s neck. When he took a breath he was pleasantly surprised that, under the stench of fear and adrenaline, Derek’s scent was so very similar to his mother’s scent. Peter closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Derek’s jaw. “You’re so much like your mother,” he whispered. “Makes missing Talia not hurt so… so….”

It felt like slowly slipping to sleep more than passing out. Peter could hear multiple someone’s calling his name. He could hear someone shouting something about forgetting the riddles. It was a weird thing to say in the middle of a fight, so Peter tried to ask what was going on, but it wasn’t possible.

As Peter’s hearing grew more muffled, almost like he was going underwater, he could hear someone calling out random words and phrases. One stuck with him as he started to slip into oblivion. 

_What goes around the world but stays in a corner?_

_What goes around the world but stays in a corner?_

_What goes around the world but stays in a corner?_

_What goes around the world but stays in a corner?_

_What goes around the world but stays in a corner?_

~

Waking up was not nearly as peaceful as passing out had been. Peter woke in stages, bit by bit, painfully slogging through the mire of exhaustion, seeking the surface of consciousness so that he could reassess how fucked they were. As Peter finally started to hear voices, he realized they were all around him. He heard Stiles talking to his father, so he was alive at least. He could feel Derek nearby so he knew he had survived too, though not hearing his voice made him worry he was hurt. He heard Melissa McCall and someone else that he assumed was Scott, so things were looking up. He heard Allison speaking but he didn’t hear her father answering her.

Peter’s eyes snapped open when he realized what he couldn’t hear. “Christopher?” he whispered hoarsely, blinking against the blinding lights. “Chris?” he croaked, swallowing even though his throat was so try it felt like swallowing sandpaper. 

“Shut up, he’s waking up,” he heard Derek say, and he turned, peering through slitted eyes, afraid of opening his eyes further in the bright light. “Derek?” He blinked and opened his eyes a bit further, relaxing some when he saw Derek walking through the doorway. “You okay?” Peter asked, trying to sit up, only to cry out in pain and fall back.

“Whoa, stop!” Peter blinked as Derek leaned over him, blocking out the bright light. “You’re barely alive, so really, don’t reopen the wounds before Deaton’s medication takes effect.”

Peter groaned. “Shit, what happened?”

“You got stabbed,” Derek said and Peter glared up at him.

“No shit, Sherlock. I mean after that?” he asked.

Derek looked up and Peter craned his head, smiling when Stiles came in looking completely well. “Dude, you’re alive!” Stiles said, rushing over. “Crap man, I thought you died.”

Peter hummed. “Me too. Why am I not dead?”

Stiles smiled. “Dude. I did _magic_ on you! It stopped you bleeding more until we could get you to Deaton. I mean we thought about letting you die, but Derek wouldn’t let us,” he teased and Derek rolled his eyes. 

Deaton came in and Peter grumbled. He had never liked Deaton. He was utterly useless if you wanted a question answered. He really hated having to rely on Deaton to make him not die. “Well hello, Alan. Nice evening?” he said hoarsely and Deaton gave him an amused look.

“Nice of you to rejoin us Mr. Hale. We worried you had died, too,” he said. Peter rolled his eyes, only to stop mid-roll when he realized he had said ‘too’. His heart sank and he felt his chest tightening as he remembered whose voice had been missing.

Peter swallowed hard, looking at the ceiling. “Where’s Argent?” he asked tightly. 

Stiles jerked and he shook his head quickly. “No, dude, he means the Tengu. I kinda killed them. Accidentally,” he said, cringing. “Dude, no, your dirty, dirty secret lover in the night is totally fine. He’s talking to my dad.”

Peter breathed a sigh of relief just as Derek and Deaton both gave unimpressed looks. “Really, Stiles? Really?” Derek asked dryly.

Deaton just switched his unimpressed look to Peter. “ _Chris Argent_?” he asked and Peter huffed indignantly.

“You too? You’re a human-“

“You’re a werewolf and he’s a hunter, do you have any idea what kinda crap I’ve put up with from hunters?” Deaton asked flatly. “Although you’re just as annoying so maybe it isn’t _so_ surprising,” he said, going around the table to get something. 

Stiles and Derek’s angry expression conversation ended with Stiles smiling at Peter. “So dude, like, when we thought you were dead it totally pissed off your nephew and your boyfriend and we remembered that I could out-riddle them cause we’re both STUPID and forgot the MOST IMPORTANT THING!” he exclaimed, arms waving. “Whatever, so like, I out-riddled them but then Derek tried to attack one of them anyways and they all turned on him and I like… was still feeding off their magic feedback loop thing and their fairy dust circle and stuff and sorta, kinda wished them all to disintegrate and they did,” he said with a meek look. “Deaton says I’m not allowed around all his magical things again now. He says that wasn’t all me, I was just channeling their shit, but he’s not taking the risk.”

“Good,” Peter said. “Because I really don’t want you to wish Derek’s clothes away and have to see his naked ass. I can live my life without that sight,” he drawled and Derek glared at him whereas Stiles flushed to the roots of his hair.

“Oh my GOD!” he squeaked, and then turned and simply walked out. “I HATE YOU, PETER!”

Peter smirked and winked at Derek. “You’re totally in,” he said and Derek flushed and rolled his eyes.

“ _No_.”

“Why not? He’s cute in a ‘pretty’ way. Totally brilliant, he talks enough our silence wouldn’t be a problem, and he’s brave as hell-“

Derek glanced at the open door and lowered his voice. “He’s seventeen and his dad is the Sheriff, so shut up if you don’t want me to be _murdered_ ,” he hissed and Peter just smirked.

“Eh, I was seventeen when I had my first boyfriend-“

“Oh my God, shut up now.”

“Although that’s a horrible comparison, my first boyfriend was more like that asshole Jackson was. And I got kicked out of my home, so yeah, maybe not a good idea. Although he wasn’t nearly as hot-“

“Please. I don’t want to be shot, so please don’t call Stiles hot again-“

“Oh please, like his dad can hear us all the way out there,” Peter dismissed, feeling a lot better already.

However, he and Derek both froze when his statement received a reply. “I have ears like a cat, Hale, and you better not ever call my underage child ‘hot’ ever again. I’ll force feed you wolfs bane laced drain cleaner,” Sheriff Stilinski called in. Peter actually cringed at how Derek paled, freezing like a deer in the headlights. 

“Oh my God, DAD!” Stiles squeaked.

“What? I meant the creepy old one, not your boyfriend. I’m just going to shoot him if I find out he’s committed any felonies involving your person-“

“ _He’s not my boyfriend shut up oh my God Dad I have to go kill myself why would you do this to me?!_ ” Stiles hissed rapidly and Peter actually giggled at the expressions mixing together on Derek’s face. He REALLY wished he could see Stiles and the Sheriff’s faces too.

“Look, I’m not complaining too much, because I’ve seen what the alternatives could be. At least Derek’s halfway decent and is afraid of me. Could be the other Hale,” the Sheriff said and Peter was nearly gleeful at the terrified yet oddly hopeful look in Derek’s eyes.

“It really couldn’t, because he has his own much older boyfriend – even though he has that child molester vibe, he’s actually into old guys – and plus I kinda hate him most of the time, except when he’s’ amusing, but most of the time,” Stiles said and Peter froze. It was Derek’s turn to smirk at him. 

“Yeah,” Scott offered. “He’s totally in love with Allison’s Dad-“

“WHOA, who is in WHAT with my HUH?!” Peter and Derek both paled slightly at Allison’s voice joining in. She was a scary young lady when she was angry.

Peter nudged Derek’s side and whispered, “Quick, make some excuse to get rid of them before Allison comes and kills us both.”

Derek huffed. “Why would she kill me?! I’m not the one defiling her father-“

“No, but you’re still on her shit list for Existing While Werewolf, so hurry up before we both die!” he hissed and Derek grumbled, but left the room to go do what he said. 

As the voices faded away and silence descended, Peter closed his eyes, still a little tired from their ordeal. He couldn’t help but notice that he never did hear Chris’s voice in all of the bickering.

~

When Peter woke up the second time, Deaton told him to go ahead and get dressed in the clothes someone had brought for him, as he could leave. Peter was still sore, but he was able to get his clothes on. He sat on the table, fully dressed, but fumbled when he tried to tie his shoes without aggravating his injury. It was hard to lean over. It had been quiet for a while, so he assumed everybody was gone. He expected Deaton when the door opened, so he didn’t look up until he heard a rather familiar ‘meow’. He lifted his head, dropping the laces of the shoe he was trying to tie, and blinked when he saw Loki and then noticed who was holding her.

Chris gave him a small smile, walking over to offer Loki to him. “Sorry I missed you awake earlier. Loki was upset so I was making sure she was okay in the other room.”

Peter took Loki and his heart melted when she immediately nuzzled into his chest, rubbing against him and purring. “Hello my beautiful girl,” he murmured, kissing her head. He looked up at Chris. “Why was she here?” he asked worriedly.

Chris stroked her head. “When the Tengu got me from the apartment, whatever they knocked me out with knocked her out too. A neighbor saw her since the door was open and brought her here. Luckily Deaton is the only vet in town worth his salt because it was magical, not medical.” 

Peter cooed. “Awww, did those mean Tengu hurt my little girl?” He kissed her head. “Is she okay?” he asked and Chris nodded.

“Deaton says she’s fine. She was just unconscious. No ill effects.” He reached out and stroked her back. “She grows on you,” he said softly. “I was really worried about her after how much time she and I have spent together the last several weeks. I’d really hate to have lost her,” he said and Peter’s breath caught when he realized what Chris was suggesting. Peter flinched slightly, but relaxed when Christ grabbed his foot and placed it on his lifted knee to tie his shoes for him since he had clearly witnessed his trouble. He looked up at Chris, and Chris’s intense gaze captivated him. “Loki is such a special creature, even if some might say she’s too broken to be worth letting into your life.” Peter bit his lip and Chris broke his gaze and grabbed Peter’s other foot. He continued. “All she needs is someone to help her heal after whatever bad things happened in her life before you grew to know her. Some creatures are lost causes… but sometimes the ones who seem to be too far gone just need someone who is able to handle the rough patches and not freak out. Someone who cares about them enough to help them learn to live a life that has hope.”

Peter took a small breath, forcing a weak smile. “But who would want to take on such a burden? Why would anybody want to even try to help someone-“ He cleared his throat. “Some stray cat learn to live a life with hope instead of just take their kindness and go find a nice, happy, healthy cat that’s already living a happy life? Why would someone with so much life experience want to waste that much patience and suffer through all the inevitable setbacks and life adjustments that it would take to shoulder that type of burden when they don’t have to?”

Chris stepped between Peter’s knees, hands resting on his thighs and he smiled. “I want you because you are too young, too smart, too capable, and too beautiful to just stay so broken.” He lifted a hand and cupped Peter’s face, stroking his cheekbone when Peter leaned into his touch. “I’ve seen how fun-loving and silly you can be when you’re distracted from your own guilt and pain.” He shook his head sadly. “I can’t tell you that guilt or pain will ever go away. Because I don’t think it will.” He slid his thumb to trace Peter’s bottom lip, making Peter gasp slightly. “But you can make up for those things by building happiness and _trying_ to go on with your life. Nothing will erase the hurt that’s there, but that doesn’t mean your life has to circle around it and grow stagnant.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to Peter’s forehead. “You deserve happiness. You deserve to forgive yourself enough to allow yourself to have good things.”

Peter swallowed hard. “Are you one of those good things, Christopher?” he asked in a cautious, but hopeful voice, looking up into Chris’s eyes.

Chris smiled and shrugged. “I’d like to be.” He leaned in closer, stopping when his lips were just shy of brushing Peter’s as he spoke. “I could very easily fall in love with you, if you let me.”

Peter’s lips twisted and the corners turned up the barest amount. “You sure you want to?”

Chris chuckled, more of a humming in his chest than an actual laugh, and he nodded, nose nudging Peter’s. “I think it’s time we both open a new chapter in our lives. And I’d like for it to be together.”

Peter smiled wider, an honest smile, and he watched the way the lines around Chris’s eyes deepened, showing that his smile had grown, too. “Okay,” he whispered, “Well then, Christopher, turn the page.”

Chris slid his hand into Peter’s hair with an amused sound. “I thought you’d never ask.”

It wasn’t the best kiss, it was half-lopsided since they were both trying to smile into the kiss. It was interrupted by Loki getting sick of being trapped between them and clawing Chris’s belly. It ended in Peter missing a few strands of hair and Chris missing some skin on his stomach, and both of them were laughing between curses after their failed attempt at a kiss. But it was the start of something new. Something fresh and clean, a new start for them both. A new first page in a never before opened book. It was the first ink to the page. The first pen to the paper. The first action to set their new adventure in motion. 

The most perfectly unperfect kiss ever was the first kiss in a second lease on life for two people who had loved, lost everything they loved, and needed somewhere to start again.

The second kiss however? It was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Amusing fact: Loki is based on an actual cat. There are cats that live outside my house (I wouldn't call them OUR cats since our cat is a big orange tabby named Tigger who lives inside and is lazy and spoiled and these are cats that just happened to take up living outside our hours and eating food we toss out to them) and one litter of kittens only had one survivor (So we assume, there were like 5 of them and then one day we noticed there was only one of them) and it's a little TINY girl cat my brother named Strudel. Half her tail is gone. Has been since we noticed her out there. She's about a year old or so now yet she's still TINY, like... not even 2lbs probably, unlike our Tigger who is big and lean and is STILL about 12-14lbs.
> 
> Also the answer to the riddle is 'a stamp', if you were wondering.


End file.
